Gundam Seed DX
by EmperorDraco7
Summary: A revamp of both Gundam Seed and Passionate Warrior. A war has began between Naturals and Coordinators, so a young Coordinator must fight against his own kind in order to protect his friends and loved ones. Some characters will be slightly OOC!
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.

Gundam Seed DX

By EmperorDraco7

'Cosmic Era (C.E.) 70. Tensions between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT had reached an all-time high. With the event of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, the strained relations hit their breaking point and escalated into a full-scale war. Initially, it seemed as though the superior numbers of the Earth Alliance would bring a swift end to the vicious war, but these predictions were soon proven false. Eleven months after the first shots of war, the fighting between the two armies continued, and there seemed to be no end in sight...'

* * *

Mu La Flaga stared out the window of his ship. Today was the day that the Earth Alliance would prepare their counterattack against ZAFT. The Hawk sighed as he remembered the Battle of Endymion, the battle he wished he could forget.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_"Alright, this is it. Today we make our stand right here and right now; let's do it!" said the Hawk , his TS-MA2mod. 00 Moebius Zero launching from the Agamemonn-class carrier that he had been assigned to. Joining him in the battle was a squadron of TS-MA Moebiuses led by a group of Zeros which made up the elite Moebius Zero corps._

_Mu detected five ZGMF-1017 GINNs approaching, and while dodging a fire of bullets, he activated his mobile armor's gunbarrels and fired them from different angles. The GINNs didn't stand a chance, and they were torn apart and destroyed with ease._

_Unlike the original Moebius, the Zero was considered a dangerous armor against the mobile suits ZAFT was deploying. However, it wasn't unstoppable. A single GINN, armed with a recoilless rifle, flew above the Zero and was about to fire until it was hit from behind by a linear gun. The blue and silver Moebius that had fired the shot wasted no time in finishing the damaged mobile suit off._

_"You really should pay more attention in combat," said the pilot of the blue and silver unit as her face appeared on Mu's screen. "One hit from that GINN and you would have been taken out of action."_

_"I can handle myself just fine, Rena, but thanks for you assistance."_

_"Just watch your back!" snapped Rena, flying off to fight against another ZAFT mobile suit and leaving her ally to help some of his fellow Zero pilots against many of the enemy forces. Hopefully, Mu would remember that even he was vulnerable to the weapons they used against him._

_As soon as he pierced the cockpit of an ion cannon-equipped unit with a shot from the linear gun, he felt a strange sensation throughout his entire body and he turned around to see a Zero being destroyed by a ZGMF-1017M GINN High Maneuver Type not too far away from him._

_"Damn," he cursed before firing the linear gun at the enemy. He gritted his teeth in frustration as it dodged the shot. "Let's see this guy try to avoid this."_

_The gunbarrels activated and began to fire at the GINN HM; Mu hoped that one of them would be able to land a hit. Unfortunately, as he watched it used its speed to its advantage and sliced one of the units in half with the heavy sword mounted onto its assault rifle._

_"You'll have to do better than that," he heard a smooth male voice through communications._

_"Who exactly are you?!" demanded the Hawk, sending his three remaining gunbarrels at the enemy mobile suit while firing the linear gun. "I can tell you're not an ordinary pilot, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sense you, but why do you feel so familiar?"_

_"Maybe it's because we met years ago, Mu La Flaga," this caused him to freeze in shock. Mu snapped out of it upon seeing his foe firing at him, and the Zero pilot barrel rolled out of the way just in time. How did that guy know his name?_

_"What do you mean we met before?"_

_"You will find out when the time comes, but for now call me Rau Le Creuset."_

_Mu remained silent as he continued his assault on the enemy pilot, determined to do whatever it took to bring that GINN HM down. He knew, however, that his foe had the same objective. It was then that the Hawk heard one of his fellow Zero pilots contacting him._

_"Lieutenant La Flaga, we have trouble. The radiation levels here are going up and fast."_

_"What are you saying?" he asked in surprise, and then cursed at losing another of his gunbarrels to that damn GINN HM._

_"I don't know but… Oh my God!" he heard a loud scream as below the crater, the Cyclops System began activate, killing ZAFT and EA forces almost instantly. Everyone who was present began to flee from the area as an explosion suddenly occurred and began consuming every ship, MA and MS in its path, including the Moebius Zero corps themselves._

_Inside the GINN HM's cockpit, the man known as Le Creuset, once he was far enough from the blast zone, began grinning at the sight of lives ended, and the sounds of their screams were like music to his ears. He then noticed a single damaged Moebius Zero, having barely managed to escape during the chaos that had taken place, and contemplated taking aim at it with his assault rifle and ending the pilot's life once and for all._

_He never fired a single shot, however, as he knew that now wasn't the day to kill Mu. "We will meet again, Mu La Flaga."_

_With that, the GINN HM jetted away and left the scene. In the Zero's cockpit, the Hawk passed out from the injuries he had just received from the destructive blast, but not before muttering a single name. "L...Le Creuset…"_

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

"Dammit!"

Mu punched the wall with his eyes shut; he was the only Moebius Zero pilot still alive after that battle; the rest had been completely annihilated, and if it hadn't been for Rena finding him he would have died in space.

He never would have thought that the Earth Alliance would use a Cyclops System, even as a last resort in battle. On the other hand, the N-Jammers that had forced the use of the microwave weapon also prevented nuclear explosives from being used, which at least meant that there wouldn't be any nukes being fired at the PLANTs. One Bloody Valentine Tragedy was enough, and he couldn't stomach the thought of any more of them ever happening.

However, his thoughts soon went back to the GINN HM he had battled against and he began wondering about why he had felt familiar. Not only that, but the the fact that strange pilot knew who he was. Of course, it was because of this strange connection that Rau Le Creuset had spared his life instead of finishing him off.

"Lieutenant?"

Mu turned his attention toward his friend Gale. "What is it?"

"I was wondering why you were alone in the halls, so I wanted to make sure that you were feeling okay."

The Hawk sighed and looked out at space once again. "I'm not in the mood to talk about it right now."

"I see," said Gale. "Well I should be heading for the hangar. Luke probably needs help with his Moebius unit, and you never know when ZAFT will strike."

With that, he floated away from Mu.

"Gale, you and the others would never understand how I feel about this..."

* * *

Three ZAFT ships were wandering through the depths of space. Two of the ships were _Laurasia_-class frigates and the third was a _Nazca_-class destroyer. They had been drawn to this particular region of the void by rumors that the Earth Alliance was creating a new weapon...

"So, the Earth Alliance is planning to create their own mobile suits to go up against ours," The ZAFT commander sighed behind the white mask that hid his face. "This is something we cannot allow," he added.

"Sir?" asked the ship's captain, looking at the commander.

"Prepare the mobile suits! The _Galvani_, _Gamow_ and _Vesalius_ will head for the colony Heliopolis!" The commander ordered.

"Heliopolis? But it belongs to the Orb Union, which means it's neutral!" The captain argued.

"That may be so, but Orb is helping the Earth Alliance create these mobile suits, Ades! Miguel already scouted the area around Heliopolis and he confirmed it to be true," said the commander.

"But still…" Captain Ades was interrupted by the commander.

"If we were to capture both these new mobile suits and the Morgenroete facility in Heliopolis, then ZAFT could create new, more advanced mobile suits to use against the Earth Alliance," said the commander. "Don't you wish for the war to end?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," said Ades, nodding his head.

"Then we have no choice; we must capture these mobile suits before the Earth Alliance can secure them," said the commander.

"But what if the colony is damaged?" asked Ades.

"Then so be it," said the commander in an emotionless tone. With that said, the three ZAFT ships made their way to Heliopolis to prepare for the capture of the G-Weapons.

A/Ns: Expect a darker and colder version of Rau Le Creuset here than in the canon. But not too dark and not too cold either.


	2. Phase 1: False Peace

Disclaimer: See prolouge.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 1: False Peace

By EmperorDraco7

* * *

_Heliopolis_ Colony, January 25, C.E 71

* * *

A young male with brown colored hair and amethyst eyes was hard at work on his laptop computer.

"Hey Kira!" Kira Yamato turned his head to see his friends, Tolle Koenig and Mirialla Haw walking towards him.

"Hi," said Kira smiling when he saw Tolle and Milly.

"So this is where you've been hanging out. Professor Kato has been looking all over for you," said Tolle.

"Really?" asked Kira in surprise.

"So what are you doing?" asked Milly looking at the laptop.

"I've been busy with the work Professor Kato gave me," said Kira. "Did you guys hear that Kaohsiung was attacked?" he asked as he turned his laptop to show his friends a video. On the screen, the Kaohsiung spaceport was under attack by a group of ZGMF-1017 GINN mobile suits.

"I'm within two kilometers of Kaohsiung, where there has been fierce combat for days" said a reporter in the background.

"If this is the footage from last week, then ZAFT might have already taken over Kaohsiung," said Tolle in disbelief.

"That's terrible!" said Milly in shock.

"Yeah," said Kira as he turned the laptop off.

"Kaohsiung isn't very far from us, will the homeland be alright?" asked Milly with a worried look on her face.

"Relax Milly, there is nothing to worry about. Kaohsiung may be close by but our nation is neutral, I can't imagine Orb becoming a warzone," said Tolle.

"Really? Then I guess we're okay," said Milly.

"Anyway we better get to school," said Tolle.

"Sure," said Kira as he began putting his thing away.

* * *

Space, outside of _Heliopolis_

* * *

The Nazca-class destroyer and the two Lauarisa-class frigates position themselves behind an asteroid and launched three vessels. In the Nazca-class's hanger were two ZGMF-515 CGUEs and four ZGMF-1017 GINNs; one of the GINNs was colored orange.

_Commander Le Creuset is really going to go ahead with this,_ thought a female with brown-colored hair, violet eyes, and was wearing a red pilot suit as she entered the cockpit of one of the CGUEs. "Still, why would Orb help the Earth Alliance create these five new mobile suits? Isn't it supposed to be neutral?" she asked herself.

"Are you okay Shiho?" asked a pilot with blonde colored hair and wearing a green pilot suit who appeared on one of the screens.

"I'm fine Miguel," said Shiho Hahnenfuss.

"Just wanted to make sure," said Miguel Aiman.

"You should be more worried about the others and yourself, So be careful," said Shiho reminding Miguel about their comrades: Rusty Mackenzie, Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, Nicol Amalfi and Athrun Zala.

"I got you," said Miguel before the screen went blank.

* * *

_Heliopolis_, streets

* * *

Tolle, Milly, and Kira noticed three girls having a conversation and Kira began blushing when he noticed one of the girls, a redhead with sapphire-colored eyes and wearing a pink dress and red-colored shoes!

"Hi Mirialla," said the red haired girl.

"Hello Flay," said Milly. While Milly chatted with the other two girls much to Flay Allster's dismay, Kira was looking at Flay.

"Hey Kira, hello, Earth to Kira!" said Tolle but Kira wasn't paying attention even as Tolle waved his hand up and down in front of his friend's face. "KIRA!" Tolle yelled into Kira's right ear, causing Kira to fall onto the ground.

"What the hell was that for!" yelled Kira with his finger in his right ear.

"What's going on?" asked Milly.

"It's nothing," said Tolle, helping Kira up.

"I hate to interrupt, but we need to get through," said a woman with short black hair.

"Sorry about that," said Tolle as he and Kira let the woman and two men pass through.

"Who were those people?" asked Kira.

"I'm not really sure," said Tolle.

"Me neither," said Milly.

* * *

Morgenroete Factory District

* * *

Lieutenant Murrue Ramius and several other Earth Alliance Forces personnel were busy getting five giant machines into the district. They're intention is to have these five G-weapons (codenamed GAT-X102 Duel, GAT-X103 Buster, GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-X207 Blitz, and GAT-X303 Aegis) transferred to the new Archangel class assault ship _Archangel_.

"The G-weapons are ready to be transferred to the _Archangel_," said one of the personnel.

"So far so good," said Murrue. "What about the pilots that Lieutenant Imelia trained?" she asked. Murrue was close friend with Rena "Sakura Burst" Imelia.

"They just arrived, meanwhile Lieutenant Imelia is already onboard the _Archangel_," said another of the personnel.

"We better work fast," said Murrue.

"Is something bothering you, Lieutenant Ramius?" asked a third EA personnel noticing that Murrue was troubled.

"It's nothing," said Murrue, shaking her head.

* * *

_Morgenroete_

* * *

Kira, Tolle, and Milly arrived and were greeted by their other two friends: Sai Argyle and Kuzzey Buskirk.

"About time you guys arrived," said Sai.

"Hi Sai," said Kira. Meanwhile Tolle noticed someone with amber-colored eyes leaning on the wall nearby.

"Who's that?" asked Tolle.

"That's Professor Kato's guest," said Kuzzy.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Tolle as his friend nodded to confirm.

"So, where's Professor Kato?" asked Kira.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Hanger

* * *

The pilots were waiting for orders to launch. Meanwhile Shiho, was lying against her seat and her eyes were shut.

_"I hope the others are alright,"_ she thought. A minute later, she heard the commander's voice.

"All pilots prepare to launch!" he ordered. Shiho opened her eyes.

"Looks like it's time," she said. The CGUE was the first to launch, followed by Miguel's orange-colored GINN and four standard-colored GINNs. "Alright be prepared if there are anything attacking us!" said Shiho.

"Yeah!" said Miguel.

* * *

_Heliopolis_

* * *

Detonators activated and there were multiple explosions which killed the Archangel's captain and most of the crew. Above the ground began shaking violently, leaving everyone in a state of confusion over what had happened.

* * *

Space

* * *

Five MAW-01 Mistrals were deployed, along with two TS-MA2 Moebiuses, the TS-MA2mod. 00 Moebius Zero piloted by Mu La Flaga, and the Marseille III class transport ship. Unfortunately, the Mistrals were easily destroyed by the GINNs without any effort.

"Looks like we have trouble! You and Miguel help the others, we'll deal with these pest," said one of the GINN pilots.

"Okay," said Shiho as her CGUE, Miguel's orange GINN, and two other GINNs head straight for Heliopolis.

* * *

_Heliopolis_, Factory District

* * *

"Lieutenant Ramius, we can't get any response from the Archangel!" said one of the Earth Alliance personnel. Just then, two GINN flew in and fired at Murrue and the other personnel. They managed to get out of the way in time though.

"The GINN, which means ZAFT forces are outside of the colony. Activate X105 Strike and X303 Aegis at once!" ordered Murrue as she got up. "Looks like we have no choice, we have to destroy the factory district," she said.

* * *

"What do we have here?" asked Miguel as he saw three of the new G-weapons outside of the district.

"Don't forget, we need to capture these machines and the factory district," said Shiho.

"I haven't forgotten," said Miguel as both the CGUE and the orange GINN landed on the ground and fired their assault rifles at the linear tanks and the missile trucks, destroying a few of them.

* * *

_Morgenroete_, Hallway

* * *

During the chaos, Kira chased after the person he had seen in his class, and managed to catch up.

"Hey, this is dangerous," said Kira.

"Stop following me! You better get out of here if you know what's good for you," the stranger said. Just then, a huge explosion blew the stranger's hat right off and Kira took noticed to that.

"You're a girl?" he asked.

"What did you think I was? Let's hear it!" said the girl who Kira now realized had blonde colored-hair which resembles Kira's brown hair only a little longer. Kira in the meanwhile found her hat, which hadn't flown too far.

"Well I…" Kira was interrupted as the ground shook again. "Listen we can't stay, this way!" he grabbed the girl's arm and led her through the hallway.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" the girl yelled as she tried to get out of Kira's grip.

"There should still be shelters somewhere," said Kira.

* * *

Outside the factory district

* * *

The Duel rose out of its container holding a combination 57mm high-energy beam rifle/175mm grenade launcher in its left hand and a blue shield in its right hand.

"I'm impressed! How about you Dearka," said Yzak as he mounted the beam rifle onto the Duel's hip and grabbed hold of a hyper bazooka.

"I'll say, I'm getting it onto its feet right now!" said Dearka as the Buster began to stand up. "And you, Nicol?"

"I'm almost there," said Nicol as the Blitz is now on its feet, holding its "Trikeros" offense/defense system.

"Where are Athrun and Rusty? They sure are taking their time," said Dearka.

"They're inside the factory district to capture the other two machines," said Shiho.

"Enough talk, we better get these three machines back to the Vesalius," said Yzak. The CGUE, the Duel, the Buster, and the Blitz jetted off of the ground, leaving Heliopolis.

* * *

Factory district.

* * *

Kira and the girl arrived in the district and were shocked at what they saw. ZAFT forces and the Earth Alliance personal were shooting at each other as the two remaining G-weapons lay in their containers.

"Those are…" Kira couldn't finish what he was about to say as the girl dropped to her knees.

"I knew it, the Earth Alliance's new prototype mobile suits. Father, I can't believe you betrayed us all!" yelled the girl.

"This way!" said Kira. Murrue took notice to Kira and the girl.

"Children here?" she asked herself.

"Hold it right there!" said a ZAFT soldier wearing a green pilot suit and holding a machine gun in his hands, stopping the two teens in their tracks. Suddenly an explosion consumed the ZAFT soldier, killing him instantly. Unfortunately Kira and the girl couldn't get to the shelter because there is a large gap in front of them, and it was too far to jump.

"Dammit!" cursed Kira as he led the girl back to where they came and Kira saw another ZAFT soldier aiming at Murrue. "Behind you!" he warned. Murrue turned around and shot the ZAFT soldier to death.

"You two, get over here!" she said to the teens.

"Thanks, but we have to get to a shelter so never mind us," said Kira.

"You don't understand, you'll never make it through where you came because the factory district is filled with explosives and they're going to blow soon," said Murrue. Another explosion occurred and sealed the way back, forcing Kira and the blonde girl to jump off the railing and land on the Strike. Murrue fired her pistol and managed to kill one of the two ZAFT soldiers wearing red pilot suits.

"No Rusty!" yelled the other before firing his gun and killing the remaining Earth Alliance personnel. Murrue tried to shoot the soldier but was shot in the shoulder. The ZAFT soldier took out his knife and ran towards the injured lieutenant as Kira and the girl joined her. Just as the ZAFT soldier was about to finish the job, he saw Kira and both of them were shocked when they see each other.

"Athrun?"

"Kira?" The rest of the detonators began to activate, destroying parts of the factory district. Murrue, despite her bullet wound on her left shoulder, fired at Athrun twice but missed. She then knocks Kira and the girl into the Strike's cockpit while Athrun went into the Aegis.

"Move back," said Murrue as she began to activate the Strike. "At least we can save the Strike, even I should be able to operate it."

_Athrun, it can't be! There's no way that could be him,_ thought Kira as he remembered something when he was younger.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_"The PLANTs and Earth will see eye to eye; there will be no war," said young Athrun before he gave young Kira a mechanical bird. "The evacuation doesn't mean anything. You'll join me later in the PLANT's, right Kira?"_

* * *

_End of Flashback._

* * *

Just then the Strike came to life and showed something on the nearest cockpit.

GAT-X105 Strike

**G**eneral

**U**nilateral

**N**euro-link

**D**ispersive

**A**utonomic

**M**anuever

OMNI Enforcer

"Gundam?" asked both Kira and the girl as the Strike began to rise our of the container and equipped itself with a high-energy beam rifle, a red shield and a bazooka. As the detonators began to destroy the entire factory district, the Strike stood up and was ready for battle.

A/Ns: I would like to thank Enchanter for beta reading both the prologue and this chapter as well as helping me with what I did wrong. Don't worry, I will continue "Passionate Warrior".


	3. Phase 2: Its Name is Gundam

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 2: Its Name is Gundam

By EmperorDraco7

Heliopolis was now in a state of total chaos, due to the ZAFT mobile suits attacking the colony. Just then, the two Earth Alliance mobile suits, Strike and Aegis, emerged and joined the fray.

"What happened, Athrun?" asked Miguel as the Aegis landed next to his orange GINN.

"Rusty failed," said Athrun.

"What?" asked Miguel, in disbelief at what Athrun had just told him.

"The final machine is being operated by an Earth Alliance officer."

"Goddammit!" cursed Miguel as he placed his assault rifle onto his GINN's back and drew its heavy sword. "Alright, we'll try to capture this machine. Athrun, you better get yours out of here."

Athrun stared at the Strike with a frown. _Kira? No, it can't be! There's no way it could have been him,_ he thought.

The Strike was moving sluggishly as the three GINNs began their attack. Murrue was trying to aim the bazooka at one of the enemy mobile suits, but they were too fast. Miguel's GINN slashed at the Strike. Murrue blocked the slash with the shield but was forced backwards.

"I have an idea. While we distract the pilot, you prepare to attack" said one of the ZAFT pilots as he and the pilot of the other standard GINN fired their assault rifles. Murrue blocked their shots, but noticed Miguel's orange mobile suit aiming to slash at the Strike's cockpit.

Murrue pressed a button and the Strike's colors changed from dull gray to red, white and blue before the heavy sword made contact with the G-weapon. Miguel was stunned when he saw that his attack had no effect on the Strike.

"What the hell is that?" he asked in shock.

"That is Phase Shift armor! It renders the weapons used by our mobile suits useless," explained Athrun.

The Aegis activated its own Phase Shift armor, but its colors changed to magenta. An Earth Alliance missile truck opened fire nearby, but the Aegis easily destroyed the missiles with its Igelstellungs, and then turned the machine guns on the truck, tearing it apart.

"You need to get back to the _Vesalius!_ You can't stay here any longer!" said Miguel.

Athrun thought about it briefly. "Alright," he said.

The Aegis jetted off and flew out of the colony, leaving the GINNs to deal with the Strike. Inside the G-weapon's cockpit, Murrue fired the Igelstellungs at one of the GINNs but none of the bullets hit their target. Kira took note, but he wasn't the only one.

"Your Phase Shift armor is impressive, but it won't mean a thing if you can barely move!" snarled Miguel.

As the orange GINN came in to attack the Strike, Murrue tried to fire the bazooka. One of the other GINNs responded by ramming into the Strike from behind, knocking the bazooka out of its hand. "Dammit!" cursed Murrue as the orange machine kicked at the Strike.

Despite blocking the kick with its shield, the Strike was still pushed back, and it crashed into a building behind it. Looking at one of the cockpit screens, Kira noticed three of his friends running away from the battle.

As Miguel charged at the Strike once again, Kira had had enough, and took over. The Strike punched the orange GINN and sent it flying backwards.

Murrue was shocked at what she had just seen. "How did you.."

"There are still people all around the area. If you're gonna operate something like this, you need to make better use of it," said Kira while taking a look at the OS and frowned. "This is ridiculous, how can anyone expect to pilot a complex machine like this kind of OS?"

"The OS hadn't been completed yet, so it can't be helped," said Murrue.

"Please move aside," said Kira.

Murrue moved out of the way and let Kira into the pilot seat. Kira then began to rewrite the Strike's OS.

The blonde haired girl looked on in surprise. "How did he do that?" she asked.

"What the hell was that all about?" asked one of the GINN pilots as the three ZAFT machines came together.

"I don't know but I am not going to wait and find out!" yelled the second pilot as he fired his assault rifle at the Strike, only to have the bullets bounce harmlessly off the G-Weapon.

After finishing the rewriting of the OS, Kira noticed the orange GINN charging towards him. The Strike fired the Igelstellungs, distracting the enemy machine before punching it in the face. The blow sent the orange GINN flying backwards once again.

"What's with that machine? Now its moving better," said Miguel.

"Okay, what weapons does it have?" asked Kira as he looked into the Strike's computer. After a moment of searching, the screen displayed the Igelstellungs and two "Armor Schneider" combat knives stored in the hip armor. Kira threw the shield aside and took out both of the Armor Schneiders.

One of the standard GINNs tried again to shoot down the Strike, but the G-Weapon dodged the shots and stabbed the machine, disabling it. Kira retrieved the Armor Schneiders and placed them back into the hip armor before taking out the beam rifle. The Strike fired and a beam shot went straight through the GINN's cockpit, destroying the ZAFT mobile suit instantly.

"Goddamn piece of Earth Shit!" cursed Miguel as he charged at the Strike and slashed. It easily caught the heavy sword and kicked the orange GINN away before throwing the sword at the other standard GINN. The sword impaled the cockpit and destroyed the mobile suit. Kira drew the beam rifle again and took aim at the orange unit, but Murrue stopped him.

"Look at the power reading," said Murrue, pointing at a display low on the cockpit screen. "The Strike's battery must not have been fully charged when we started it up. If you keep using the beam rifle, the power will run out and the armor will fail."

"What do you want him to use instead?" the blonde asked. "The knives?"

Before Murrue could answer, Kira noticed something near the remains of the factory district. Moving as fast as he could, Kira reached it and saw that it was a handle of some kind. He gripped the handle and carefully pulled out what appeared to be a large sword.

"The Grand Slam Sword?" asked Murrue, surprised that it had come out of the explosion intact.

The orange GINN aimed its assault rifle at the Strike and fired. Kira dodged the bullets and countered by firing the Igelstellungs, destroying the rifle.

"Stop it!" yelled Kira, slashing with the Grand Slam and managing to slice off the GINN's left arm.

Miguel growled loudly. "Don't think that you won!" he yelled as he recovered his machine's severed arm and flew off. _There is no way that the pilot is a Natural._

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Hanger

* * *

The Aegis entered the _Nazca_-class destroyer, joining the Duel, the Buster, the Blitz, and the two CGUEs.

"Glad you made it!" said Nicol in relief as his face appeared on the Aegis's screen. Just then, he realized something. "Where is Rusty?" he asked.

"Rusty's been killed, so the Strike is still in the hands of the Earth Alliance," said Athrun.

"Alright, we better get the data extraction started," said Nicol.

"Okay," said Athrun.

* * *

Space

* * *

With both Moebiuses, two of the GINNs and the _Marseille III_ class destroyed, only Mu La Flaga and the other GINN remained.

"You are starting to become a real pain in my ass!" the Hawk said, firing the Moebius Zero's gun barrels. The attack managed to destroy not only the GINN's assault rifle, but also the entire right arm.

The ZAFT pilot knew he wouldn't last any longer, and wisely decided to withdraw.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

"Commander Le Creuset! Olor and Miguel have entered the _Gamow!_ Their respective GINNs have been damaged!"

"Both are damaged?" asked Rau Le Creuset in surprise.

"Also one of the G-Weapons had been activated!"

Rau knew that the Strike was dangerous as long as it remained with the Earth Alliance.

"Prepare my CGUE! I'm going out there" he ordered as he left his seat.

* * *

_Heliopolis_, Hidden Lab

* * *

Rondo Ghina Sahaku was enraged, ZAFT had attacked Heliopolis and now Morgenroete was planning to destroy all traces of Project Astray.

Morgenroete did help the Earth Alliance create the G-Weapons. However, they also began their own mobile suit development, codenamed Project Astray, hidden from the eyes of both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Morgenroete was successful in copying the beam rifle and saber technology, but they did not have access to the Phase Shift armor design, and compensated by making their mobile suits lighter and more agile than their EA counterparts.

"Those fools!" snarled Ghina as he left for the hanger. Once he arrived he saw the four mobile suits. One of them was gold, another red, the third blue, and the fourth green.

"I must get these mobile suits out of here," said Ghina as he went towards the machines. One by one, Gina loaded the four units with an OS that he had created. He then went into the gold mobile suit's cockpit and sealed the hatch.

_I'll be back for the other three later,_ he thought with a smirk as he began to activate the gold mobile suit. _This one is the priority._

MBF-P01 Astray Gold Frame

**G**eneral

**U**nilateral

**N**euro-link

**D**ispersive

**A**utonomic

**M**aneuver

ORB

The Gold Frame grabbed its shield and its Type 71 beam rifle before rising out of its hanger. "I have a feeling that I'm not the only one in the noble family here in the colony" said Ghina.

As the Gold Frame jetted off and prepared to exit the colony, a name popped into Ghina's head.

"Athha," he said in a dark tone.

* * *

Space

* * *

Mu searched around to see if there were still enemy mobile suits in the area. Just then he felt a sensation through his entire body. "It can't be" he said as he was greeted by none other than Rau Le Creuset.

"I never thought I would be facing you so soon, La Flaga," said Rau.

"Le Creuset!" said Mu, activating the Zero's gun barrels and firing them and the linear gun at the CGUE. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I thought that you would have figured it out by now," said Rau as he used his shield to block the linear gun's shots while dodging gun barrel shots.

Mu gritted his teeth as the enemy mobile suit began firing back at him. "Damn you to hell!"

The Hawk was barely able to dodge the shots before seeing the CGUE entering Heliopolis the same way the GINNs did earlier. "Bastard! He's gone into Heliopolis!"

With that said, Mu recalled his gun barrels and jetted off after Rau.

* * *

_Heliopolis_

* * *

Kira's friends came over to the Strike, which had by now recovered its shield, bazooka, Grand Slam and beam rifle. The hatch opened and they were both surprise and shocked when Kira came out of the cockpit, followed by the blonde haired girl and Murrue.

"Kira?!" asked Tolle.

"I don't believe it," said Milly.

"Hey guys," said Kira scratching the back of his head. Then he noticed something. "Where's Kuzzy?" he asked.

"We got separated from him, none of us know where he went" said Sai.

"I see," said Kira, looking a bit upset.

Milly noticed the blonde haired girl. "So Professor Kato's guest is a girl," she said. Sai and Tolle looked at the blonde girl and then back at Milly.

"Yeah," said Kira confirming.

"So what's with that thing?" asked Tolle, pointing to the Strike.

"Well… That's not important, I'm glad you guys are okay," said Kira. He turned to the blonde haired girl. "And you?" he asked

The girl glared at Kira for a few seconds and just as she was about to say something, everyone heard a gun being fired.

"What the hell was that?"

"I want all of you to gather here now!" ordered Murrue despite her wound. "Now one by one, tell me your names!"

"Tolle Koenig"

"Miriallia Haw"

"Sai Argyle"

"Kira Yamato"

The blonde haired girl was surprised at hearing Kira's name. _Why does that name sound familiar?_ she thought.

"And yours" Murrue pointed her gun at the blonde haired girl.

The blonde closed her eyes, but eventually gave in. "Cagalli" she said. This time Kira was the one surprised. _I've heard that name before, but where, and more importantly why?_ he thought.

"Are you okay Kira?" asked Milly.

Kira shook his head and turned to face Milly. "Yeah," he said.

"Very well, I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the Earth Alliance forces. Obviously, you have witnessed military secrets, so I cannot let any of you leave until further notice."

No one liked the sound of that. "You're kidding!" yelled Cagalli as Murrue pointed the gun at her.

"I'm not joking!" yelled Murrue. "We are in the middle of a war after all!"

Murrue then winced at the pain of her wounds. "You're hurt!" said Kira.

While the others went to Murrue to address the wound, Cagalli looked coldly at the Strike. _Father, I can't believe it! Why did you do it?_ she thought with her eyes closed and almost in tears.

After nearly an hour, Murrue's wound was taken care of. "That should do it," said Milly.

"Thank you," said Murrue. "Anyway I need for Kira to go back into the Strike," she ordered.

"What? You want him piloting that thing again?" asked Cagalli.

"We don't have a choice, Cagalli! There are still ZAFT forces outside of the colony and we need to contact any nearby Earth Alliance forces" said Murrue.

Cagalli bit her lower lip as Kira went into the Strike's cockpit. Kira hailed for any Earth Alliance ships several times, but was unsuccessful due to the N-Jammers messing with communications.

"I can't get any response," said Kira.

Murrue didn't like the sound of that. "Sai, I need for you to look for trailer five and bring it back here," she ordered.

Sai left and after 10 minutes, he returned with the truck. "This is what you were looking for, right?" he asked.

"Yes it is," said Murrue. "Kira, attach the Launcher Striker onto the Strike. This might make it easier"

Suddenly Kira felt a strange sensation through his entire body. "What was that?" he asked himself.

An explosion shook the entire colony. A hole was blown open in the colony's central shaft, and entering through the hole were Mu La Flaga in his Moebius Zero and Rau Le Creuset in his CGUE. The Zero was damaged and had lost all of its gun barrels while the CGUE was undamaged.

Both pilots felt the sensation through their bodies and they wondered why they felt it before they turned their attention to the Strike. "So this must be the last machine," Rau said with a smirk.

The CGUE began firing at the ground. Everyone ran as Mu fired the linear gun at the ZAFT mobile suit. Rau was fast enough to dodge the shots and used his heavy sword to slice the linear gun off.

Meanwhile, Kira managed to equip the Launcher Striker onto the Strike and activated the Phase Shift Armor. Kira checked to see what weapons he could use. The computer revealed the Launcher Striker's weapons: the "Agni" 320mm hyper impulse cannon and a combo weapon pod which housed a 120mm anti-ship vulcan gun and twin 350mm gun launchers. The computer also indicated that the Strike could still use the Armor Schneiders while equipped with the Launcher Striker.

The CGUE fired its assault rifle again, this time hitting the Strike, but nothing happened. "My weapon had no effect," said Le Creuset in shock.

Suddenly, a giant explosion occurred, and a white warship emerged from the resulting hole in the colony wall, much to everyone's surprise. "It's the _Archangel_," said Murrue, knowing what ship it was.

Rau couldn't believe what he saw. "A new warship, they failed to destroy it?" he asked himself.

The _LCAM-01XA_ _Archangel_ fired three or four missiles at the CGUE. Unfortunately Rau destroyed one of them with his assault rifle while dodging the remaining ones. Unable to keep up with the mobile suit, the missiles went off target and hit the colony.

Kira saw this and was unimpressed. "You have got to be kidding me," he said as he targeted the CGUE. Murrue tried to stop Kira, but it was too late. The Strike fired the Agni and managed not only to destroy the CGUE's right hand, along with the assault rifle, but to blow a big hole into the colony.

Rau was shocked at the power of the Strike, and decided to retreat.


	4. Phase 3: Collasping Homeland

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Gundam Seed.

Dr. Elizabeth Reynolds belongs to StormWolf77415

Dr. Kari Morino belongs to Enchanter468

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 3: Collapsing Homeland

By EmperorDraco7

The Strike and the damaged Moebius Zero entered the _Archangel's_ hangar, and Murrue was greeted by several of the surviving crew members as soon as she and Kira's friends were gently placed on the ground.

Natarle Badgiruel saluted the Lieutenant. "Lieutenant Ramius! It's relief to hear that you survived."

Murrue saluted back. "I'm glad you survived as well, Ensign. I should thank you for protecting the Archangel."

The Strike's cockpit opened and the crew members' faces expressed surprise and shock when they saw Kira exiting. "Okay, what the hell was a kid doing in the Strike's cockpit?"

Murrue sighed and turned to see Rena Imelia, who had her arms crossed. "I have a lot of explaining to do, Lieutenant Imelia and I don't think you're going to like what you're about to hear."

"I'm listening," said Rena with a cross look.

Just as Murrue was going to say something, another voice interrupted. "Well, what a surprise."

Mu La Flaga, still in his pilot suit, approached the crew before saluting. "I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Seventh Orbital Fleet at your service."

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of sector 2, Fifth special division. I'm a crew member of the Archangel" said Murrue while saluting back to Mu.

Natarle saluted as well. "Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, same division."

Rena smirked upon seeing the Mu. "So we meet again, Hawk."

Mu turned his attention to Rena and was surprised to see her of all people onboard the _Archangel_. "If it isn't the Sakura Burst," he grinned.

"You two know each other?" asked Natarle in surprise.

Rena nodded to the ensign before setting her eyes back towards Mu. "Yeah, we met sometime after Endymion. I never would have thought that _he_ would be the only Moebius Zero pilot to survive the Cyclops System."

"On to more important matters, the ship I was assigned to was destroyed in battle so I would like permission to come onboard this one," said Mu as he turned his attention back toward Murrue and Natarle. "Can you tell me where the captain is?"

Natarle frowned. "The captain and all of the senior officers have been killed, so I believe Lieutenant Ramius is next in command. About a dozen of us remain, mostly non-commissioned officers. I, on the other hand, was in the shaft and managed to survive."

"The captain is… dead? It can't be..." Murrue was shocked at what she had heard.

"I see," said Mu before facing Murrue. "Lieutenant Ramius, please grant me permission to board the Archangel."

"Sure, permission granted," said Murrue.

"Thank you," said Mu with a smile before noticing Kira. "Who is that?"

Murrue sighed. "That's Kira Yamato. He's a teenaged civilian who was in the factory district during the attack. I brought him onboard the G-Weapon. He managed to destroy two ZGMF-1017 GINNs and forced a third to retreat."

This shocked the crew members. "That kid destroyed two GINNs?" asked Natarle in disbelief.

Rena was just as shocked as Natarle. "That's impossible; there is no way for a civilian to ever defeat the GINN!"

"It's true, Lieutenant Imelia. I saw it all with my own eyes," said Murrue with a stern look on her face.

"Very well," Imelia said. "One more thing, Lieutenant: I couldn't find my students anywhere on the ship. Do you know where they are?" Rena asked, looking curious.

Natarle looked at Rena. "The bombs exploded near the control booth where the captain was welcoming them at that very moment."

Rena was horrified by this information. "Oh my god… You don't mean that they were…"

Natarle nodded and Rena's face darkened. "Those bastards!"

Mu was intrigued by what Murrue told him earlier and went towards Kira. "What is it?" the teenager asked.

"So tell me kid, are you a Coordinator?"

Everyone wondered what the Hawk was talking about. Kira eventually nodded. "Yes."

A few Earth Alliance soldiers aimed their guns at Kira and Tolle moved in front of his friend. "What the hell is going on here? Kira may be a Coordinator, but he is not an enemy."

Murrue stepped in. "Lower your rifles, men."

The soldiers obeyed and Natarle went towards Murrue. "Lieutenant Ramius, I request an explanation."

"You shouldn't be surprised. _Heliopolis_ belongs to a neutral nation and it makes sense that some Coordinators chose to take refuge here in order to avoid any involvement in this war," said Murrue before her attention towards Kira. "Am I wrong, Kira?"

Kira shook his head. "No, you're right, especially since I'm a first generation Coordinator."

"That means your parents are Naturals," said Mu, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that; I didn't mean to cause such a fuss. I was just curious, that's all."

The Hawk began looking at the Strike. "You know, on our way here, I watched Lieutenant Imelia's students run through a bunch of simulations. They really had to struggle just to get the G-Weapons to move."

"So what do we do now?" asked Natarle.

Mu turned his head towards Natarle. "What do we do? My Zero's been damaged and the Le Creuset Team is waiting for us outside of the colony. If you ask me, we can't afford to spend too much time here."

It was then that he noticed Murrue's bandaged shoulder. "What happened?"

Murrue simply shrugged. "It's nothing serious."

"I think I better take you to the ship's infirmary to have it checked out" said Mu with a serious expression.

Murrue looked into Mu's eyes for a few seconds and eventually conceded. "Very well" she sighed.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

"I should thank your for bringing this to me, Miguel. If I didn't have this as proof then I would have become a laughing stock for allowing my CGUE to get damaged in a battle against one of the Earth Alliance's mobile suits" said Rau as he explained the situation to his team.

"I believe that all of you are aware of the incomplete status on the machine's original OS, however I have no clue how the remaining unit maneuvered so well. But I want to make this perfectly clear: we cannot afford to allow it to stay in the hands of the Earth Alliance, so if we cannot capture it, then we will destroy it and that new warship. Don't underestimate it."

All of the pilots saluted their commander. "The GINNs and pilot Shiho Hahnenfuss' CGUE will be equipped with Assault Shrouds. We will also be using the D-Type Equipment. This time we will put an end to this, once and for all," said Ades.

Nicol didn't like hearing that and interrupted. "We can't use that!"

Ades turned to face Nicol with a stern look on his face. "Is there a problem, pilot Amalfi?"

"Captain, we can't use the D-Type Equipment in _Heliopolis_. We might end up destroying the entire colony," Nicol protested.

Yzak Joule snorted and crossed his arms. "Who cares, Nicol. Orb calls itself a neutral nation, but they helped the Earth Alliance create those machines."

Rau looked at Nicol. "I know how you feel, but you need to understand that we must do whatever it takes to take down the Strike and the new warship."

Nicol looked down at the ground. "Commander…"

* * *

_Archangel_

* * *

A woman in her mid -to- late 40s, with brown eyes, long brown hair, and wearing steel frame glasses was the first to see Murrue being brought to the infirmary. The doctor wore an EA uniform under a standard lab coat. "Oh my god, what happened to you?"

"I was shot on the shoulder sometime back," said Murrue.

"I see," said the doctor before taking notice of the Hawk. "I don't believe that I've seen you here before."

Mu grinned at the doctor before saluting. "Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Seventh Orbital Fleet; my ship was destroyed in battle."

"My name is Elizabeth Reynolds; I'm the _Archangel's_ chief medical officer."

Just then, another woman entered the infirmary. In her early 30s, she had blue eyes and dark brown hair, which was pulled into a long braid behind her head. She seemed surprised when she saw Elizabeth with Murrue and Mu.

Elizabeth noticed the new comer. "I'm glad you made it, Kari. Lieutenant Ramius has a gunshot wound in her upper arm."

"So you two know each other?" asked Mu in interest.

Elizabeth nodded. "Kari, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Mu La Flaga."

"An honor to meet you, Lieutenant La Flaga. I'm Dr. Kari Morino, but you can call me Kari."

Mu saluted to Kari. "The honor is all mine." Kari laughed briefly.

"I just said you can call me by my first name, Lieutenant. You don't need to _salute_, for Heaven's sake," she said, before turning her attention towards Murrue and Elizabeth. "Okay let's take a look at that wound."

Elizabeth nodded. "Okay. Lieutenant Ramius, I need you to lie down on one of the beds so we can get the bullet out of your shoulder before we mend the wound."

"Sure, Dr. Reynolds" said Murrue both Elizabeth and Kari took Murrue to a nearby bed.

Kari turned towards Mu. "We would like for you to wait outside until we call for you, Lieutenant La Flaga."

Mu sighed before nodding. "Very well" he replied before exiting the infirmary.

* * *

_Archangel_ Crew Quarters

* * *

Kira was sleeping on the upper bunk as his friends discussed the situation. Cagalli was just staring at Kira.

"I wonder how Kira could sleep at a time like this" said Tolle. Milly turned her attention towards her boyfriend.

"Kira's tired. What happened today was difficult for him."

"Good point," Tolle said, nodding.

"You know if Kuzzy were here and found out that Kira was a Coordinator he would have questioned about the war" said Sai. Milly sighed.

"Yeah, he would have also wondered if the Archangel and the Earth Alliance would stand a chance against ZAFT," she said. Tolle and Sai nodded before the former spoke.

"So what do you think is going to happen to us?" Milly shook her head.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think we'll be allowed to leave because we saw a military secret."

"Then there's Cagalli" said Sai as he, Tolle and Milly turned to look at Cagalli. "I wonder what her story is."

"Not sure, but it would be best not to ask her right now," said Milly.

* * *

Murrue, Natarle, Mu and Rena were in the bridge, discussing what they should do.

"With the shelters locked down completely, we have no choice but to take the students with us," Murrue stated.

"You're kidding! You do know that once we're out of the colony we'll be involved in some serious fighting" said Mu. Murrue nodded.

"We have to rely on the Strike in order to survive this," she said. Natarle looked surprised by what she heard.

"You mean we are sending it into battle?"

"We don't have any other choice" said Murrue, glancing at Natarle.

"Do you think that kid is going to be okay with that?" asked Mu with his arms crossed. Natarle turned her attention towards the Hawk.

"Maybe you or Lieutenant Imelia should pilot the Strike this time." Rena frowned.

"I don't think Lieutenant La Flaga has any experience with mobile suits, either on the simulator or otherwise," she said. Natarle looked at Rena in disbelief.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Mu shook his head.

"Lieutenant Imelia's right, Ensign. Besides, the kid rewrote the Strike's OS and I doubt that a normal person would be able to grasp it."

"I'm going to speak with Kira and see if I can convince him to pilot the Strike again," said Murrue before exiting the bridge.

* * *

Space

* * *

Three GINN Assault Types launched from the Gamow, followed by Shiho from the Vesalius in her CGUE. Athrun had launched in the Aegis and joined up with the others as they left their ships.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

Ades was shocked when he saw the Aegis launch. "Athrun Zala launched in a captured machine? Order him to return to the ship at once!"

"Let him go, Ades. We are already done with the data extraction" said Rau. Ades stared at the Commander in disbelief.

"But sir…" Rau glared at Ades.

"But nothing. This could prove rather interesting, having one of the Earth Alliance machines go up against another."

* * *

_Heliopolis,_ Interior

* * *

As the _Archangel _prepared to make its escape from _Heliopolis_, Murrue was able to convince Kira to pilot the Strike once again. This time, the Strike was being equipped with the Sword Striker so that Kira wouldn't accidentally damage the colony while in combat.

An explosion occurred, opening a massive hole in the colony's far wall, and the GINNs, Shiho's CGUE and the Aegis came through into the interior.

The Sword Strike launched and rushed to engage the enemy. Kira was surprised when he saw that the GINNs now had not just extra armor, but also different weapons. While two missile launcher-equipped GINNs and the CGUE went after the _Archangel_, a familiar orange unit took a glance at the Strike.

"There you are!" yelled Miguel, firing the M69 "Barrus" heavy ion cannon at the Strike. Kira blocked the green beam and took out the "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword.

Miguel growled as he barely managed to dodge a slash from the Strike. Backing up, he fired the ion cannon again, followed by the Assault Shroud's shoulder mounted Gatling cannons and the M68 "Pardus" missile launchers.

Kira blocked the beam while firing the Igelstellungs to destroy the missiles. He let the Gatling cannon bullets hit him, since they wouldn't have any effect on the Strike's Phase Shift armor. "I can't risk letting anything hit the colony."

The Strike continued to slash at the orange GINN, blocking ion cannon shots and destroying missiles as necessary. For his part, Miguel was able to dodge every slash, and he was getting pissed.

"Enough of this shit," he growled. "Athrun, get behind it!"

Kira saw the Aegis going after him and remembered his encounter with Athrun at the factory district. "It's that mobile suit."

The Strike was briefly too distracted by the Aegis to notice that the orange GINN was now charging at it from behind.

"I've got you now!" Miguel shouted.

Kira noticed the GINN a second before it fired its ion cannon at him; he was barely able to dodge the shot before taking out the Sword Striker's "Midas Messer" beam boomerang and throwing it at the enemy mobile suit.

Miguel dodged the boomerang and took aim with the ion cannon, locking onto the Strike. Just as he was about to fire, however, the boomerang came back and sliced the right leg off his GINN.

Kira charged at the GINN Assault Type and plunged the anti-ship sword through not only the heavy shield, but the GINN's torso as well. The GINN exploded.

"MIGUEL!" Athrun shouted.

As soon as the GINN was taken down, Kira turned to confront the Aegis. He and Athrun stared at each other's machines in surprise and disbelief. Shiho took notice and jetted off to help her comrade.

"Kira Yamato, is that really you piloting the Strike?" asked Athrun, hailing the mobile suit that his friend was piloting.

Kira held a serious expression on his face. "Athrun Zala? Why are you here anyway?"

Athrun aimed his beam rifle at the Strike. "I should ask you the same thing."

Before Kira could answer he saw three large missiles hit the colony's central shaft. With its main structural support gone, _Heliopolis _began to break apart. Kira screamed as the Strike was sucked into space.

A/N: For those who are wondering, yes there will be Kira/Flay interaction later on.


	5. Phase 4: Archangel’s Silent Run

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Gundam Seed DX

_Phase 4: Archangel_'s Silent Run

By EmperorDraco7

The Strike was floating in space amid the remains of _Heliopolis_. In the cockpit, Kira Yamato could only stare in horror, fixated on the destruction in spite of the _Archangel_ hailing him.

"This can't be happening, it just can't."

He heard Ensign Natarle Badgiruel's voice through communications. _"Kira Yamato, if you can hear me please respond!"_

This finally shook Kira from his shock and he answered the hail. "X-105 Strike, Kira here."

"_Are you alright? Do you have our location?"_

"Yes" he replied.

"_Then return to the ship. You are able to, right?"_

"Yes" Kira turned off communications and watched the debris floating in front of him. _Mom, dad I hope you made it out in one piece._

Suddenly he noticed something coming up on the screen, it was a _Heliopolis_ lifeboat. Kira was surprised by this and placed the Schwert Gewehr onto the Strike's back before heading off to retrieve the lifeboat.

* * *

_Archangel_

* * *

Mu La Flaga was having a discussion with Murrue Ramius about the current situation. Needless to say, the odds seemed to be against them. "What should we do now, Captain?"

Murrue frowned. "I'm not really sure. The ZAFT vessels are still out there, though."

"So do you think they'll come after us?" asked Mu, looking concerned.

The captain nodded to the Hawk. "I believe we should move based on that assumption, but it will be all over for us if they find us."

"Good point; all we have are the Strike and my damaged Zero. The ship itself is short-handed; we are in no position to put up a fight. So should we go full-speed and try to shake them. This is a pretty swift vessel, or so I've heard."

"The _Nazca_-class is a high-speed ship as well; there's no guarantee of us losing them" said Murrue.

"I guess we could always surrender then."

Murrue was about to say something when Natarle's voice interrupted. "What was that? Who gave you authorization?"

She turned her chair around to face the ensign. "What is going on here, Ensign Badgiruel?"

"The Strike has returned to the ship, but it's brought one of the lifeboats with it" said Natarle.

* * *

Space

* * *

"What do you mean you can't permit it?" Kira was arguing with the ensign and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "The propulsion section's damaged and the lifeboat was just drifting in space. Are you telling me to send it back out? We already have refugees onboard."

He was going to speak again when something caught his eye, not too far away were what appeared to be two trailers, similar to the one that Sai brought to them back on _Heliopolis_, only a different color. What really surprised him was what was between the trailers. "A mobile suit container?"

"_Archangel_, there's a mobile suit container floating nearby. I'm going to retrieve it and the trailers only if you allow me to bring the lifeboat onboard," he contacted the ship.

"What...another mobile suit?" Natarle asked in disbelief, "...Alright, Mr. Yamato, you can bring the lifeboat aboard."

"Now that that's over with, I ensure you that I have no intention of surrendering" said Murrue with a sigh. "I refuse to hand over to ZAFT either the Strike or the _Archangel_; we have to get them safely to Atlantic Federation HQ no matter what the risks are."

"Captain, I suggest that we head for _Artemis_ as soon as possible," Natarle suggested.

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "_Artemis?_ Isn't that a Eurasian military satellite?"

Natarle nodded to the captain. "Given our current location, it is the most easily accessible allied outpost."

"But both the G-Weapons and this ship lack the recognition code acknowledged by our allies, so would Eurasia…"

"I am certainly aware that the _Archangel_ and the Strike are military secrets of the Atlantic Federation, but should we set a course for the moon you can't expect us to arrive there without some resistance along the way. In addition, we left in a hurry, so we weren't sufficiently supplied and are in urgent need of provisions."

"I realize that," said Murrue.

"I would have to say that even Eurasian would show some sympathy to our situation, so it is best that we avoid any encounters with the enemy and re-supply at _Artemis._"

Rena turned her chair around towards the other senior officers and her expression began to darken. "I hope you are right, ensign. However, we still have to find a way to get past those three ZAFT vessels."

Murrue looked at Rena with a hint of concern. "I know how you feel, Rena, but right now it is our only option."

* * *

The container, as it happened, carried another mobile suit, devoid of outer armor and any accessories, save for a shield. As the two trailers found along with it were loaded into the hangar and opened, the _Archangel_'s mechanics were surprised to see just what they held.

"Are those striker packs?" asked one of the mechanics as he stared at what was inside the trucks. One of the packs was silver with white trim, and slightly resembled the Aile striker, but had two anti-ship swords, two cannons, and two rail cannons. It also came with a shield. Unlike the defensive item that had been found with the incomplete mobile suit, this shield mounted a 30mm 6-barrel Gatling machine gun, which slightly resembled that of the shield used by the CGUE, and a beam boomerang.

The second pack, on the other hand, was mostly black with some white and yellow. It was a completely new pack unlike the silver one.

After landing, Kira exited the Strike's cockpit to see the other mechanics helping the refugees from the broken lifeboat out.

A familiar red-haired girl was the first out, and Kira was surprised to see her. Just then, Birdy came out of his shirt and flew towards the lifeboat. Kira floated after it only to be spotted by the just as surprised Flay Allster.

"I know you, you're Kira Yamato!"

The girl pushed herself towards Kira, hugging him tightly. "Is that really you, Flay Allster? I didn't know that you were in that life boat."

"Please tell me what happened at _Heliopolis._ What happened there in the end?" Flay looked at him with fear in her eyes and tears began to form. "I got separated from Jessica and Misha outside of a store and I managed to get to a shelter during the attack…"

Kira remained silent, and at that point Flay noticed the Strike. "This is a ZAFT ship isn't it, what's going to happen to us?" she asked in fear.

"Actually this ship belongs to the Earth Alliance," he replied.

"You're lying; there's a mobile suit onboard."

Kira smiled at the girl. "No, it also belongs to the Earth Alliance."

This left Flay confused about the situation. "I think you better explain this to me from the beginning."

Kira nodded and told Flay what had happened when _Heliopolis_ was attack, how he ended up discovering the Strike, the battles and the events that took place, even about how _Heliopolis_ was destroyed.

The girl clenched her fists once she heard all that and hatred filled her eyes. _Those bastards, how could they do this?_

"Are you feeling okay, Flay?" asked Kira, looking worried about the way Flay's expression had darkened.

She shot a nasty glare at him. "Am I feeling okay? They destroyed Heliopolis and people probably died!"

Kira felt upset. Flay was right, but he wondered why Athrun was involved in the attack. Hell, why did he become part of this war? "Guess what; Sai and Miriallia are onboard too."

This news surprised Flay. "Really?"

Kira nodded and led Flay out of the hanger to meet with the others.

* * *

Bridge

* * *

"Two new striker packs?" Murrue was surprised by this. "Are you sure?"

_That's right, Captain. One resembles the Aile striker while the other is a totally new pack altogether. Both were most likely created along with the mobile suit that the kid brought onboard. The machine itself, on the other hand, didn't get its standard armaments or outer armor at all. _

_An incomplete model._ Murrue thought about it for a moment. "I see. Could you use spare parts of the Strike to complete the machine?"

_We'll do our best; we're already doing a data extraction on it and the two new striker packs._

Murrue turned her attention towards the personal in the bridge. "Alright, when I give you the signal, fire a Sledgehammer and set a course for Artemis."

"I hope you know what you're doing" Rena said to herself in a silent tone, praying that they would make it through this in one piece.

* * *

Cafeteria

* * *

Sai, Tolle, and Milly were starring at Cagalli, who was sitting at a table separate from theirs. The blonde took notice of this. "What do you want?"

The three Heliopolis students remained silent for a moment before Kira and Flay entered, Birdy perched on the former's shoulder.

"Flay?" Sai was surprised when he saw them; the redhead happily ran towards him and started hugging him. Kira felt upset by what he saw, but he smiled now that Flay was with the others.

He turned his attention towards Cagalli, who was glaring at him for some reason. _I should talk to her when I get the chance._ He wondered why she was at _Heliopolis_ in the first place, as well as why he felt like he knew her.

* * *

_Vesalius_

* * *

Rau Le Creuset was discussing his next course of action with Captain Ades. Captain Zelman of the _Gamow_ and the captain of the _Galvani_ were also present.

"The Legged Ship must have escaped the area by now." Zelman clenched his fists in anger. "There's no way we can detect it with all this debris."

The _Galvani_'s captain turned his attention towards Zelman. "It's too early to jump to conclusions; the enemy vessel can't detect us either, so it is most likely hiding."

"We may have four of the machines from _Heliopolis_, but we shouldn't take the final one or the warship too lightly; it did manage to defeat even Miguel Aiman," Rau reminded the captains.

Ades nodded. "The Supreme Council wasn't told about our operation; there is no telling what will happen if they find out what has happened."

"Now is not the time to think about what the Supreme Council would do. Who knows what would happen if the ship were to meet with any nearby Earth Alliance forces."

"Good point." Ades frowned. "Even so, we need to destroy it and the machine it possess before then."

Rau realized something, and an evil grin formed on his face. "Of course! I know where the _Legged ship_ would most likely be going. Alert the _Gamow_ and the _Galvani_ at once."

* * *

_Archangel_

* * *

"Once the decoy is fired, change course and head directly for _Artemis_ at once," ordered Murrue. "We will then switch to inertial flight to avoid detection from any of the enemy ships."

"A silent run until we reach the _Artemis_ base," said Mu. "It should take us 2 hours to get there. Now all we need is a little luck."

The _Archangel_ fired a single Sledgehammer missile, hoping that it would distract the ZAFT vessels, before changing direction and begins its silent run towards the _Artemis_ base.

* * *

Kira's Room

* * *

"So what's with the ship changing course?" asked Tolle with his arms crossed, wondering what was going on.

Sai simply shook his head. "No clue, but there could be more ZAFT forces in the area."

Tolle frowned. "They really want this ship and that mobile suit; I bet that they're hunting us down."

"They're what?" asked Flay in disbelief. "You mean we're in more danger onboard?"

"Would you rather have stayed in that broken lifeboat?" Milly asked her red-haired friend, causing the other girl to clutch onto Sai's arm in fear.

"Not exactly."

Kira noticed Rena Imelia and Mu La Flaga approaching. _What do they want now?_ He thought.

"Kira, it's time for you to maintain your machine."

Kira was surprised by this. "My machine?" he asked. "You don't mean…"

"That's right, we decided that you are going to be the Strike's pilot" Rena interrupted. "You did it twice before."

Kira didn't like the sound of this one bit. "Yeah, I flew it twice, but it was because I had no choice! I don't want anyone to think that it makes me a soldier!"

The Sakura Burst slammed her fist against the wall in anger. "You are a Coordinator, you rewrote the fucking OS, you managed to destroy three GINNs in battle, and now you want to stop?!"

Flay gasped in shock upon hearing that.

"Now how would you like it if the ship was attacked right now and you did absolutely nothing? Would you rather die along with all of your friends onboard?"

Kira froze in horror; everyone else mimicked his expression.

"She's right, kid" said Mu. "You and I are the only ones who can protect this ship; you have the power to make a difference, so why not put it to good use? Think about it."

Sai stood up. "Sir, where exactly are we going?"

"We're on our way to the Eurasian military base known as Artemis. We'll be lucky if they even allow us inside without a fuss."

Kira was upset by this and took off. Rena tried to go after him, but Mu put a hand on her shoulder while shaking his head. "Let him go."

Flay turned her attention towards the others, her face displaying horror. "Is this true? Is he really…"

"Yes, Kira's a coordinator, but he's not with ZAFT, and he is the only one who can operate the mobile suit onboard this ship," Sai replied.

Milly nodded. "He's still one of our cherished friends, and being a Coordinator won't change that at all."

Flay looked down at the ground. "I see."

* * *

_Vesalius_

* * *

Rau was in his office, his thoughts occupied with what had happened so far. Needless to say, he was furious that the Strike and the new Earth Alliance warship had survived the previous attack, but he knew that the enemy was now heading for the Artemis base, so he had his team prepare to head them off.

He also thought about the blonde-haired girl from earlier.

_Damn!_ He thought, slamming his fist onto the table in anger. _What was she doing at Heliopolis in the first place?_

Just then he heard Athrun's voice from outside. "Come in."

The commander wanted to speak with the blue-haired pilot about something. "I had been hoping to speak with you before, but I've been busy lately."

"I apologize about what happened earlier, I…"

"I'm not going to punish you, Athrun. You weren't yourself. I wish to hear what you have to say," said Rau. "I trust that you were near the remaining G-Weapon when it was activated."

Athrun frowned and nodded. "Yes, I was upset by the events that had taken place and I failed to report the incident." He paused for a moment. "The pilot of the final machine was my friend, Kira Yamato. We went to the same lunar prep school and he's a Coordinator."

Rau was surprised by the news. "Oh?"

"Yes, Sir; I never thought that we would meet again like this. I had to find out for sure."

"I see. Irony abounds in warfare." Rau got off of his seat. "I don't blame you for being upset; I can imagine that you were very close to him." Athrun nodded. "Very well, I'm going to be taking you off the next sortie."

This surprised the blue-haired elite. "Commander…"

"You wouldn't be able to point a gun at such a friend, and I have no intention of putting you in that position, but try to understand, now that he is with the enemy we must kill him."

"Kira fails to see that the Naturals are using him!" said Athrun. "Brilliant as he is he's also naïve and good-natured. They're exploiting him but he's blind to it. That's why I have to try and reason with him; Kira's still a fellow Coordinator and I'm certain that he'll come over to our way of thinking."

Rau thought about it for a moment. "I know how you feel, but what it he refuses to listen to you?"

Athrun lowered his head in shame. "If that were to happen, I'll shoot him down myself."

* * *

The _Archangel_'s silent run was going smoothly and everyone onboard thought that it would be clear sailing from here. They were wrong.

"Captain, we've detected a large heat source beside us," Romero Pal reported. "It's the _Nazca_-class!"

Murrue scowled and clenched her fists. _This can't be good. Are they trying to intercept us? If so, then where are the Laurasia-classes?_

"I should have known that Rau Le Creuset wouldn't be fooled by our diversion," said Mu.

Natarle turned her attention towards Pal. "Where are the _Laurasia_-classes?"

"Hold on." Pal checked the console for where the _Laurasia_-class frigates were located. "They're behind us, three-hundred to stern."

"It's only a matter of time before the _Laurasia_-classes catch up with us, but it we try to outrun them then the _Nazca_-class will come right at us."

"So, what do you suppose we do now?" asked Rena, her expression darkening. "Surely we can't let them capture or kill us."

"Bring me a space map and the data on the three enemy vessels," Mu said abruptly.

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "I trust that you have a reason this, Lieutenant."

Mu simply grinned at the captain. "I just might."

* * *

_Vesalius_, hangar

* * *

Athrun floated towards the Aegis, thinking about what he and Rau had talked about earlier. He really didn't want to fight Kira, but he knew that he had no choice.

Upon entering the cockpit, he activated the G-weapon and waited for further orders before he could launch.

"_Okay, Athrun, you know what you need to do."_ Rau's voice came though as his face appeared on one of the screens.

"I understand, sir" Athrun nodded to his commander. _I hope the others don't get to Kira before I do.__Archangel_

Kira floated through the halls, thinking about what Mu and Rena had told him before when he noticed his friends, who were now wearing the volunteer uniforms of the Earth Alliance.

"Huh? What are you guys doing wearing those uniforms?"

"We decided that we should help out around the ship. They're undermanned after all," said Sai. Tolle and Milly nodded, which left Kira in surprise.

Tolle stepped up. "You always do fighting, and we thought that you could use some company."

"Since we're all in this together, we intend to help out too," Milly added.

Kira never thought that this would happen, and smiled lightly at them before they were led towards the bridge.

_Dalida_ Lolaha _Chandra_ stopped for a moment. "If you are going to launch again, make sure that you wear a pilot suit this time."

"Yes sir."

* * *

The _Vesalius_ positioned itself for the upcoming attack on the EA warship. On the bridge, Rau and Ades waited for the enemy to appear so they could put an end to it once and for all.

"Are the G-weapons ready?" asked the masked commander.

Ades nodded. "They should be, but are you sure that it's a good idea to use them at all?"

"Of course; we finished the data extraction and I don't see any problem using them" Rau replied. "GINNs alone are not enough to bring down either the remaining unit or the ship."

* * *

_Archangel_, Pilot Room

* * *

Rena changed into her pilot suit. She'd had enough of ZAFT, and she wanted to make them pay for what they had done to her students. _Who needs that space monster? I'll pilot the Strike myself._

She floated to meet with Mu, who was already in his own pilot suit. "I hope you are ready for this, Hawk."

"I am; are you?"

"Hell yeah!" she replied. "Your plan better work or I swear to God I'll kill you."

They suddenly saw Kira Yamato, who was changing into a light blue EA pilot suit nearby. "So, you decided to go through with it after all," the Hawk spoke while Rena snorted.

Kira nodded. "You said before that you and I are the only ones who can protect this ship. It's not that I want to fight, all I want to do is protect the people onboard."

"It's the same for everyone. You won't find many people who want to fight for no reason; we fight because it is the only way we can protect ourselves."

"Are you two going to head for your units or not?" asked an annoyed Rena. "This ship can't protect itself you know."

Mu nodded, and began to tell Kira about the plan and how it is going to work.

* * *

Bridge

* * *

"_Laurasia_-classes approaching, fifty to stern," Pal reported.

Murrue and Natarle didn't like the sound of that. "Prepare the Lohengrin cannons, target the _Nazca_-class dead ahead and fire on my command."

Rena arrived and joined with the other women. "What are you doing here, Lieutenant Imelia? I thought you were going to launch in the Strike."

"Change in plan, Ensign. That Yamato kid is going to be the one to sortie." Rena crossed her arms. _The only question is, can we depend on him at all?_

"Understood," said Murrue and turned her attention towards the rest of the crew. "All hands, level-one battle stations!"

* * *

Hangar

* * *

"No matter what happens, think only about protecting this ship and yourself," Mu reminded Kira before entering the cockpit of his now fully repaired Moebius Zero.

"Alright, be careful out there."

The brunette floated towards the Strike, he had other things to worry about than just surviving. _Athrun, will you come back? Will you really try to destroy this ship?_

Mu puts his helmet on and strapped himself onto his seat as Natarle's voice came through the intercom.

"_I hope this plan of yours works, Lieutenant. The Strike will be launching from the starboard catapult and you will be launching from port."_

"Mu La Flaga, launching!"

The mobile armor flew into space as the Strike was brought into the other catapult. _Systems all green, now equipping Strike with the Aile striker._

Kira braced himself because he knew that he was in for a tough battle. Upon Murrue's signal, the _Archangel_ fired both Lohengrin cannons at the _Vesalius_.

_Here we go,_ thought Kira with a serious look on his face. "Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam, launching!"

The Strike was propelled out of the catapult and out into battle once again.


	6. Phase 5: Race to Artemis

Disclaimer: Aya Yamato belongs to me.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 5: Race to Artemis

By EmperorDraco7

The _Archangel_ prepared itself for combat as nine mobile suits began to approach from behind. Most of the crew wondered what the enemy in front of them was up to.

"What are we up against?" asked Murrue in a serious tone.

"Hold on," Sai replied while trying to figure out what units they're dealing with. "Enemy mobile suits confirmed as ZGMF-1017 GINNs. They're heavily armed too." Rena didn't like the sound of that.

"They really want us dead, don't they?"

"Looks that way; let's hope that we can survive this," said Murrue while staring out at space. _I hope Lieutenant La Flaga knows what he's doing._

* * *

Space

* * *

Kira prepared himself for combat as he detected the approaching GINN Assault Types on the radar.

"Here they come" he said, bringing out his beam rifle. The GINNs scattered. Five of them went after the _Archangel_ while the remaining four went for the Strike.

"Take this!" one of the GINNs fired the Assault Shroud's shoulder mounted gating guns and the M68 "Cattus" 500mm recoilless rifle. Kira frowned as he used his shield to block both attacks. Retaliating, he placed a well fired shot through the cockpit.

"Bastard, you'll pay for that!" He noticed two ion cannon equipped GINNs firing at him. Dodging the shots with ease, thanks to the Aile Striker, he shot down one of the ZAFT mobile suits with his beam rifle before taking out a beam saber and bisecting the other.

The Strike flew towards the _Archangel_ and Kira remembered what Mu had said to him. _No matter what happens, think about protecting this ship and yourself._

"Easier said than done." He was thankful that he wasn't facing off against Athrun as he brought up his beam rifle and fired at the attacking GINNs. Four of the GINNs dodged the beam fire, but one of them, a missile equipped one, ended up being hit on the left shoulder and was shredded by the _Archangel_'s CIWS fire.

Two recoilless cannon equipped units targeted the Strike from the front and from behind. Kira waited until the time was right. When they fired, he moved out of the way and the GINNs were destroyed by their own shots.

Another GINN fired all of its missiles at the red, white and blue mobile suit, hoping that one of them would bring it down. The young Coordinator shot down the bigger ones with his beam rifle and used the CIWS to destroy the smaller ones. Another shot through the torso reduced the GINN itself to debris.

With two GINNs remaining, Kira thought that it would be smooth sailing for him and the _Archangel._

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

* * *

_Archangel_'s Bridge

* * *

"Huh? Captain, five mobile suits have launched from the _Nazca_-class!"

"More mobile suits? This is crazy," said Rena; she had thought that things couldn't get any worse. "Which mobile suits will we be dealing with now?" Pal froze in fear when he identified the five approaching mobile suits.

"One of them is a ZGMF-515 CGUE, but the others... They're our units! Duel, Buster, Blitz and Aegis!"

"All four of the G-Weapons?" Murrue was shocked upon hearing this.

* * *

Space

* * *

Athrun remembered what Rau had told him. He would try to convince Kira to join ZAFT, but if that were to fail he would have no choice but to take him down.

He noticed a familiar white, red and blue mobile suit destroying the last two GINNs with its beam rifle. He clenched the controls and placed his own beam rifle onto his hip before he ignited the wrist mounted beam saber.

Kira detected another mobile suit heading towards him and he was ready to face off against it when he saw something shocking and felt the pilot's presence. "The Aegis? Athrun…" He took out a beam saber and flew towards the Aegis.

"Kira, put your saber down. I came here to talk," came Athrun's voice.

"What do you wish to talk to me about?"

"You are a Coordinator like me, so why are you fighting against your own kind?" Athrun really wanted answers from his friend despite the GINN pilots he had killed. "Why are you fighting for the Earth Alliance? Why did you side with the Naturals?" Kira scowled and raised his saber.

"I'm not part of the Earth Alliance, but there are people onboard the _Archangel_, they're good friends of mine," he had his own questions. "What about you? Why are you in ZAFT and why did you decide to become involved in the war?" Athrun remained silent as Kira went on. "You told me that you hated the idea of war, so why did you attack Heliopolis?"

"Because the Naturals were building weapons there and turned it into a target." Athrun finally answered. Kira's beam saber met with Athrun's and sparks formed between the two Gundams as they pushed forward against each other.

"Heliopolis was neutral and so am I!" Suddenly Kira noticed something and pulled away as an emerald beam streaked past him and Athrun. The Duel Gundam began firing at the Strike, forcing Kira to use his shield to block the beams.

* * *

In the meantime, the _Vesalius_ was waiting for the right moment to attack. Rau had never thought that the Strike's pilot would be skilled enough to bring down the GINN AS units, but he knew that even the Legged Ship and its only mobile suit wouldn't be able to defeat all four of the stolen Gundams.

But where was the Moebius Zero while this was all happening? Shouldn't it be defending the enemy warship along with the Strike?

Rau shook these thoughts from his head and decided that they would open fire once the enemy was within range; he hoped that his pilots would be smart enough to get out of the way in time.

"Enemy vessel closing in, distance 630" said the communications officer.

Rau knew that this was the perfect opportunity to destroy the Legged Ship. "Take aim; don't fire until I give the order."

"Yes, sir." The _Vesalius_ had its 120cm high-energy beam cannons target the _Archangel_ and the crew waited for Rau to signal that the enemy ship was close enough.

Unfortunately for the masked commander, at that moment he felt a familiar presence. He gave the command to evade the assault, but it was too late. The Moebius Zero had managed to damage the ZAFT vessel with the use of its four gun barrels and linear gun.

"Damage report!" Ades called out.

"Number five sodium wall has been damaged by the attack; it's on fire."

_La Flaga, I should have known._ Rau gritted his teeth and turned his attention towards Ades. "Alert the _Galvani_ and the _Gamow_ at once! We're pulling out."

* * *

The redcoat pilots were still engaged in battle against the Strike. They knew the pilot wouldn't be able to handle all five of them at once, but they still had to be careful.

Just then, they suddenly received a message.

VESALIUS WAS DAMAGED BY SURPRISE ATTACK, WITHDRAW ALL UNITS IMEDIATELY.

"The _Vesalius_ was hit?" asked Yzak in shock. Dearka was equally shocked.

"Commander Le Creuset is ordering us to retreat?" Before anyone else could say anything, the _Archangel_ fired both of its Lohengrin Positron cannons at the _Vesalius_. The _Nazca_-class destroyer evaded the blast, but one of the beams grazed the hull, further damaging the ship. This really pissed Yzak off. Focusing on the battle again, he noticed that the Strike was trying to escape from the battle, and continued his attack.

Athrun hailed the Duel. "Yzak, what the hell are you doing!? We've been ordered to retreat!"

"Stay out of this, coward!" yelled Yzak through the Aegis' communications.

Kira fired at the Duel, to no avail. The beams it didn't dodge were blocked by its shield. Suddenly, the Strike's beam rifle stopped working completely.

"Oh no, I'm out of energy!" Kira didn't like the look of this as the Strike's Phase Shift Armor deactivated, returning it to its original dull metal grey color. Before the Duel could finish off its opponent, the Aegis quickly transformed into its mobile armor attack mode and grabbed hold of the Strike.

_Gotcha._

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm capturing the Strike," said Athrun. "It's out of power now and it can't continue fighting."

"WHAT?! But we were ordered to destroy it, what you're doing is against Commander Le Creuset's orders!" said Yzak, furious that Athrun had intervened.

"If we have the chance to capture it, we should take it." With the Strike in their hands, the CGUE and the other four Gundams made their way back towards the _Vesalius_.

_Damn,_ thought Kira, trying unsuccessfully to get the Strike out of the Aegis' grip. He refused to leave his friends behind, and he intended to make sure they get through this war.

"Athrun, what are you up to?"

"I'm taking you to the _Vesalius_."

"Get real; I'm not going to set foot on a ZAFT ship." Athrun frowned.

"You are a Coordinator, you're one of us."

"No, I'm not going to join ZAFT!" Kira yelled through communications.

"That's enough!" Athrun snapped. "Let me take you, otherwise… I would have no choice but to shoot you down." Kira knew that he didn't have any choice now, since he was completely defenseless at the moment. "I already lost my mother to the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, so I…"

Athrun never got to finish, as the Moebius Zero fired at his Gundam, forcing him to release the Strike and transform the Aegis back into its mobile suit mode so he could fight back.

Kira felt a presence he knew too well.

"Lieutenant La Flaga!"

"Get out of here! The _Archangel_ is preparing to send the Launcher Striker, but you need to be there to receive it!" Mu attacked the Aegis with the Zero's gun barrels, hoping to distract it long enough for Kira to get away and make his way back to the ship.

Unfortunately, he was heading back alone, and the Duel, Buster and CGUE gave pursuit to make sure that he didn't make it out of this alive.

* * *

The _Archangel_ fired its Valiant Linear cannons and several missiles at the three enemy mobile suits while loading the Launcher Striker into the Starboard catapult.

Rena frowned at what they were doing; did the Hawk really think that this would be able to save them? She knew that if it were to fail, the entire ship would be destroyed.

Murrue was waiting until the Strike was in position before she would give the order to deploy the Launcher Striker.

"GAT-X102 Duel is approaching!" called out one of the crewmembers.

_Come on,_ she thought, clenching her fist.

The Strike made it back to the ship and Kira got himself ready to switch packs. He ejected the Aile Striker just as the _Archangel_ sent the Launcher Striker toward his location.

Meanwhile, Yzak pointed his beam rifle at the Strike and locked onto his target. _See you in hell,_ he thought before firing the grenade, knowing that anything would now be able to destroy the Strike now that it couldn't use its Phase Shift Armor anymore.

The explosion was visible across the entire battlefield. Everyone watched in shock while Yzak began grinning.

"It's finished!"

Just then, a beam came out of nowhere and made its way towards the Duel. Yzak barely managed to bring his shield up to block it as the Strike, with its Phase Shift Armor reactivated, charged forward and began firing the Agni cannon at the enemy mobile suits. Dearka and Shiho dodged the shots, but they knew that they couldn't avoid being hit forever.

"Guys, we have to retreat now!" Shiho slowly nodded and she grabbed hold of the Duel by one arm, while Dearka seized the other. Working together, they hauled the Duel away from the area. The Blitz and the Aegis took one last glance at the Strike, the Moebius Zero and the _Archangel_ before making their retreat.

The battle was over.

* * *

_Vesalius_ Bridge

* * *

"The mobile suits are returning to the ship," said the communications officer. "They are undamaged."

"We failed; the Legged Ship and the Strike got away," said Ades in a dark tone. Rau frowned, knowing defeat when he saw it.

"Once they're back onboard, have Yzak, Dearka, Shiho and Nicol brought to my office at once," he said.

"What for?" Ades raised an eyebrow.

"I wish to speak with them about the situation, and this discussion must be held in a private location."

"Very well, Commander."

* * *

Pilot Lounge

* * *

Yzak slammed Athrun against the lockers in anger.

"You stupid bastard! If you hadn't interfered with me…"

"That's quite the disaster, all because you decided to disobey Commander Le Creuset's orders" said Dearka with his arms crossed.

"Yzak, please calm down. It wasn't Athrun's fault for what happened," Shiho said softly as Nicol entered. The silver-haired pilot gave her a dark hateful glare before turning his attention back to Athrun just as Nicol spoke.

"Now is not the time for this."

"We had four G-weapons, four fucking G-weapons but we couldn't even take that fucking pilot down!"

"Taking it out on Athrun won't solve anything; you of all people should know that."

Yzak gritted his teeth for a moment, but let Athrun go before taking off with Dearka and Shiho following him.

Nicol floated over towards Athrun and knew that he was troubled.

"Hey, is there something bothering you? What you did earlier wasn't like you at all." Athrun just looked away.

"I'm not in the mood to talk about it right now, so I'd appreciate it if you left me alone." With that he left the lounge and began thinking about the battle before.

* * *

Kira exited the change room, now donning the blue Earth Alliance volunteer uniform, and sighed as he floated towards his room. He noticed something at his right and went over to see what it was.

"You can come out now." He heard a startled voice and he looked through to see a young girl with short teal hair and silver eyes. She was wearing a black shirt, red skirt and white shoes. "Aya?"

"Kira!" said the girl, hugging Kira tightly, and began sobbing. "You're alive, I can't believe it."

"Aya." Kira paused for a moment, wondering why his ten year old sister was onboard the ship. Last time he saw her was when he left for school at Heliopolis. That was when he realized something.

"Aya!" they heard a voice from behind and they turned to notice a man and a woman entering with Mu La Flaga and Rena Imelia. Kira gasped in shock upon seeing them.

"Kira?"

"Mom, dad..."

Kira's parents stared at him for a moment before they ran over and wrapped Aya and him in a tight embrace.

"Thank God you are okay," said his mother, barely able to hold back her tears.

"What are you two and Aya doing here onboard the _Archangel?_ There's no way you can even be here unless…" It suddenly hit Kira. He remembered the Heliopolis lifeboat he had brought onboard earlier. "You must have been in that broken lifeboat."

"Hold on here, you're his parents?" Rena asked. Kira's father nodded.

"Yes, we are. We never thought that Kira would be here too, after what had happened at Heliopolis."

"Could I have a word with the kid?" Mu went over towards Kira. Both parents nodded and the Hawk led the young Coordinator to another room. "Listen, I want you to put a lock on the Strike's OS so that no one can operate it except you. Understand?" Kira nodded.

"Sure…" Mu saw that he was upset over something but couldn't put his finger on it; he knew that it was best not to ask since Kira might not be ready to answer yet.

"Come, I'll take you to your parents." The two went back to where Kira's parents and Rena were waiting.

"So what did you talk to him about?" the Sakura Burst asked.

"Nothing important" he lied. Rena sighed and looked into his eyes.

"Well we should be at Artemis shortly," she said. "God knows when we might finally get a break, so we'd better be at the bridge when we arrive." She left with Mu, leaving Kira, Aya, and their parents alone. The brunette scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say to any of them. Aya noticed the uniform that he was now wearing.

"So you're an Earth Alliance soldier now?" she asked in curiosity.

"Yes… I mean no… I don't know" said Kira, looking away for a moment, but he knew that he shouldn't hide it from them forever. "Alright, I think I should tell you what happened."

* * *

Onboard the _Vesalius_, Rau was in his office, and he was not happy that the Legged Ship and the Strike had survived. There was now nothing that he could do, as he had been called back to the PLANTs by the Supreme Council concerning the destruction of Heliopolis.

What really disturbed him was the fact that Athrun was close friends with an enemy pilot and that he might not be able to kill him. He waited for a few minutes until he received word that Yzak, Dearka, Nicol and Shiho have arrived.

"Come in." The four redcoats entered and saluted to their commander.

"You wanted to see us?" asked Yzak.

"Yes, I did. What I am about to tell you is top secret and must not leave this room," said Rau with his hands together. "The Strike pilot is Athrun's friend, and he goes by the name Kira Yamato. He's a Coordinator, just like us." This shocked the teens completely. Yzak was enraged and began clenching both of his fists.

_No wonder he saved the Strike!_ After a moment of silence, Shiho was the first to speak.

"How do you know this, Commander?" A grin formed on Rau's face.

"Because Athrun told me himself before the last sortie." He stood up. "On to more important matters. I'm transferring the four of you to the _Gamow_ to continue the pursuit while the _Vesalius_ and the _Galvani_ will head for the homeland." The four elites nodded as Rau went on. "Now you know that your enemy is a Coordinator, so I advise you to be careful the next time you go up against him." Nicol raised his hand.

"Is there anything else you wish to tell us?"

"No, that will be all" Rau shook his head and saluted to his pilots, who saluted back before they left the room. The masked commander laughed, knowing that Athrun wouldn't be stopping any of the other pilots this time, and he could tell by the look on Yzak's face that he would be the one to destroy the Strike.


	7. Phase 6: The Vanishing Gundam

Disclaimer: Aya Yamato and Lucius Drake are my OCs.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 6: The Vanishing Gundam

By EmperorDraco7

Murrue was deep in thought. Even though they had managed to repel the ZAFT forces and had made it to Artemis, she wondered how High Command would react to the fact that four of the G-weapons were now in the hands of the enemy.

Then she thought about the way Kira had reacted when he saw the pilot who stole the Aegis, this "Athrun". It looked like they actually knew each other, probably from sometime before this dammed war began.

She considered talking to Kira about this, but realized that now wasn't the time. She needed to concentrate on getting the _Archangel_ resupplied.

"Captain, we've just received a message from Artemis. The request to enter the base has been acknowledged," Arnold Neumann reported. "An inspecting officer has been sent."

"Understood," replied Murrue, quite relieved that they were allowed into the Umbrella of Artemis. After several minutes, Lieutenant Commander Biddaulph had arrived at the bridge, his face completely serious as he stared at the crew.

"Welcome," Murrue said to the new arrival. "We are very grateful that you have given us permission to dock."

Rena simply stared at Biddaulph. She knew perfectly well that even though the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations were allies, there could be a chance that she and the rest of the crew would get stabbed in the back. Sure enough, as soon as the _Archangel_ was docked inside the Artemis base and securely locked into place, the crew saw armed soldiers and Moebiuses surrounding the ship.

_Goddammit! _thought Rena, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists at the situation.

"What's going on here?" Murrue couldn't believe what she was seeing and she wanted answers from Biddaulph.

"I advise you to remain silent, Captain," he said, before turning his attention back to the rest of the crew as several of the soldiers entered the ship. At this point Rena stood up; she was thoroughly pissed.

"You can't just apprehend our ship," she objected. "You have no right whatsoever to do so!" Biddaulph turned his attention towards Rena and grinned.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asked. "The famous Sakura-Burst, Rena Imelia, in the flesh."

"Yeah, what's it to you?" she asked in anger. "And you'd better answer the captain's question about what you're doing."

"This vessel is under immediate lockdown as of right now," Biddaulph declared, "due to the fact that while we've allowed you into our base, we have not identified you as friendly."

"Bastard…" said Rena in a low tone. Biddaulph simply shook his head.

"Take these three lovely ladies to Admiral Garcia," he told his troops. "I'm sure he would like to have a word with them." Three soldiers led the women out of the bridge, Biddaulph following close behind.

* * *

The _Vesalius_ and the _Galvani_ traveled through the depths of space, making their way back to the Homeland. Onboard the former, Rau was in deep thought about what the Supreme Council had in store for him, and wondered if things would become even worse.

Unfortunately, things would become worse.

"Commander, we've detected another _Nazca_-class in the area," said the Communications officer, still working to identify it.

"Huh?" Rau raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to encounter other ZAFT forces in the area. "Who does that ship belong to?"

"Hold on. Confirmed, it's the _Brisco_!"

"The Drake Team's flagship, eh?" Ades said, interested. "What does he want?" Just then, the face of Commander Lucius Drake appeared on one of the bridge screens.

Lucius Drake was a former businessman in his mid 30's. He had space black hair and dark jade eyes.

"My…" he remarked. "What a surprise seeing you here, Rau Le Creuset." Rau frowned as he stared at the screen.

"So, what brings you here?" he asked, rather disappointed.

"I was just on patrol when I noticed your ships approaching, Rau," said Drake before frowning. "One of my crewmen just noticed the damage to your ship. What happened to the _Vesalius_?" Before Rau could say a word, Ades interrupted.

"It was damaged in a battle against...an _Agamemnon_-class carrier," he said.

"I see," Drake responded. "Where is the _Gamow_ then?"

"We decided to send it off to see if there were more Earth Alliance vessels," the masked commander lied. "I can't say where it can be found, though."

"I see," he sighed. "Would it be too much trouble if I came onboard so you can personally fill me in on all the details?" Ades and Rau looked at each other for a few second, but eventually the masked commander sighed.

"Very well, Lucius."

"Thank you," said Drake, and then the screen went blank. Onboard his own command ship, he stood up. "Prepare the shuttle; I want no more than four soldiers accompanying me."

"Understood, Sir," his executive officer replied.

* * *

Flay stood in one of the bathroom stalls, humming as she indulged in a raspberry-scented shower gel, letting the water run down her body. As Flay washed her hair, she heard the door open and close. Not thinking much of it, she continued humming merrily.

"Well what do we have here?" said a man wearing a Eurasian uniform, entering the room and taking notice of the redhead taking her shower. He grinned evilly before hiding behind one of the unused shower stalls, watching Flay finish up. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her. Suddenly, she noticed that the bathroom door was open, and started looking around to see if anyone was inside.

Unfortunately she found who she was looking for.

"Aaahhh!!!" she screamed.

"Hello there, young lady," the EA officer replied, unbuttoning his jacket.

"You pervert! Get out of here now!" Flay shrieked.

"Now where's the fun in that?" The soldier reached to grab her. Flay screamed and leapt out of the way. "Feisty are we? I really like that."

"No, stop!" Flay pleaded. She attempted to back away, but slipped on the tile and fell backwards onto her bottom. Catching up to her, the soldier grabbed her by the shoulders. Flay struggled to break free, but soon she was on her back and the soldier was kneeling over her.

"I have to admit," her assailant said, "Admiral Garcia wanted me to look for the pilot of the Strike, but I found something much better." He gave her breast a squeeze, causing Flay to start crying.

"N-no, please," she pleaded. Flay began to shudder as his hands ran over her naked body.

"Come now, you might enjoy it."

"Sai, Miriallia, somebody help me," she whimpered.

"Relax; I'll be gentle on you... Very gentle," the soldier replied. Abruptly, something hit him on side of the head, knocking him off of Flay. The redhead turned to notice a familiar brown-haired young man with amethyst eyes, clad in a blue EA volunteer uniform.

"Kira?" she asked in disbelief as she stared at her savior.

"Are you alright?" Kira knelt down by the red-haired girl, who could only nod in response. He noticed that the soldier was slowly getting back up. "You better go now; you're not going to like what's going to happen." Flay pulled herself back to her feet and quickly ran to another part of the bathroom. She cowered down in the corner, hugging her knees and keeping her eyes shut.

Kira turned his attention towards the soldier, his eyes beginning to darken. "I never thought an Earth Alliance soldier would stoop so low as to force himself onto a helpless girl; it disgusts me. However, seeing as I am in a good mood, I'm letting you off with a warning. But know this, if it were to ever happen again I would make sure that you never get up again! Understand?" The soldier, staring into Kira's darkened eyes, nodded slowly. "Good, now get out!"

The soldier got back up and was prepared to leave, but stopped.

"Like hell I will! You made a mistake messing with me and that is going to cost you your life," he said, grabbing a steel towel rod that had been knocked off its mount in his earlier struggle with Flay. Wielding it as a bludgeon, he charged at the Coordinator.

Kira saw the soldier approaching him and easily dodged the swing. He responded by performing a flip kick, which landed on the soldier's Adam's apple. With a muffled gagging noise, the soldier crashed to the floor. Kira then took a light-blue bathrobe hanging on the wall rack and slowly approached the frightened girl.

"It's over, Flay. That man won't be hurting you anymore." said Kira as he draped the robe over her shoulders. "Here, put this on before you catch a cold." Flay remained silent for a moment, but then threw herself at him, sobbing hysterically as he gently stroked her hair. "Come on, let's get out of here," Kira lifted Flay up and carried her back to his quarters, where he laid her down on his bed.

"Thank you, thank you so much Kira" Flay sniffed, tears running down her cheeks. Kira sat on the bed and held her in a gentle embrace for a few minutes she calmed down. "But won't you get in trouble for what you did back at the bathroom?"

"Maybe, but he tried to rape a civilian; that has to be a serious crime. I'll let Captain Ramius, Lieutenant La Flaga and the others know when I get the chance, alright?"

"Okay" she sniffled, pulling the blanket around her. Kira sat on the side of the bed for a few minutes while Flay fell asleep. He smiled to himself, thinking that she looked very peaceful as she slept.

* * *

Murrue, Rena, Natarle, and Mu were brought into an office, where they found themselves face to face with Rear Admiral Gerald Garcia himself.

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, Ensign Natarle Badgiruel and what a surprise, Lieutenant Rena Imelia." He looked up from his laptop and frowned. "It looks like your identification files check out as Atlantic Federation IDs." Mu was the first to speak.

"We are very sorry for any trouble we might have caused, Admiral." The officer waved Mu's comment off.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "While I have heard of your past exploits, it is both rather surprising and interesting to find you, the Hawk of Endymion, and the Sakura Burst together in one place. Especially onboard that vessel back in the docking bay." Rena simply snorted and crossed her arms when she heard that statement.

"Yes, yes, the world's full of surprises," she retorted. "Right now let's talk about getting resupplied and then getting the hell out of here soon."

"What makes you think that?" Garcia asked, pushing a single button on his desk. "Take a good look at this." The image of a _Laurasia_-class Frigate outside of the base appeared on the wall-spanning screen behind him.

"One of the _Laurasia_-classes?" Mu remarked.

"This ship has been floating around this area for quite some time now," Garcia explained. "As long as the shields remain active, they won't do anything to the base. This isn't the first time this has happened." Before any of the senior officers could interrupt, Garcia continued. "I think it would be best if you four got some rest, I'll have the guards prepare your quarters. We will contact Lunar Headquarters as soon as the enemy ship leaves."

"But are you certain that Artemis will be safe behind this shield?" asked Mu. He knew that the ZAFT forces outside were very clever.

"Of course it is, Lieutenant," said Garcia, as a group of soldier came and led the _Archangel_ officers out.

* * *

The _Gamow_ waited outside of the Artemis base. Rau had left Zelman in charge of the entire operation, and the captain was currently speaking with the four redcoat elites in the bridge.

"The Umbrella of Artemis protects the entire base from all beam and projectile attacks," he explained to the pilots. "It also keeps anything from getting out."

"So that means they won't attack us," said Dearka, to which Zelman nodded.

"The Lightwave Barrier is a very powerful defense against enemy forces, but Artemis hasn't had any strategic importance so we've ignored it up till now." Shiho raised her hand.

"Is there any way we can get through?" she asked. "The Legged Ship is in that base, after all."

"No," Zelman replied, shaking his head. "We don't have the means of getting through the umbrella. As long as we remain in this area, it will stay active. Even if we approached while the shield was down, they would easily detect us and reactivate it."

"Damn" Yzak muttered. He really wanted another crack at the Legged Ship and the Strike, but it wouldn't be happening as long as it was still inside Artemis.

After a few minutes of silence, Nicol suddenly spoke.

"There is one way to get through the shield." The other pilots and Zelman turned their attention towards him. "The Blitz has what we need to get past the shield undetected. It may have the Phase Shift Armor like the other G-Weapons, but it also has a system called Mirage Colloid."

"Mirage Colloid?" the _Gamow_'s captain asked in interest.

"Yes, it renders the Blitz invisible to both the naked eye and computer sensors for up to 80 minutes. However, it requires the Phase Shift Armor to be deactivated beforehand."

"You gotta admit, this actually sounds like a good idea," Dearka said. He'd never thought that this technology existed; Yzak and Shiho were equally surprised.

"Alright, Nicol. You should get ready; we'll be there once you give us the signal," replied the silver-haired pilot. Shiho remained silent and simply smiled at Nicol, nodding.

* * *

_Vesalius_, Rau's Office

* * *

Drake seemed fascinated by what Rau was telling him, but it seemed he was starting to get a bit suspicious of everything he heard about the Le Creuset Team's battle. The story Rau had given was that they had fought against a detached force from an Earth Alliance fleet, and the _Gamow_ had separated from them in order to seek out surviving ships. It was hardly impossible, but Drake still seemed not to have completely accepted it.

"It's a real shame I wasn't there," Drake said. "I could have been of great aid to you. However, life must go on, as they always say." Drake took out a lighter and lit a cigarette in his mouth, much to Rau's annoyance.

"Must you smoke?" he asked.

"What was that?" Drake enquired, staring at the masked commander.

"It's nothing" Rau shook his head. "Now, on to more important matters, we have been called back to the PLANTs to get repaired and resupplied before we can plan our next strategy." Drake sighed, his eyes shut.

"Of course you do," he responded. "Now what of your other elites: Joule, Elsman, Almalfi, Hahnenfuss, Mackenzie and Aiman?" he asked in interest.

"I'm afraid that they have gone missing and are reported as MIA," said Rau, frowning. "They were fine soldiers."

"It's a real shame. Is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Drake grinned. "Like where you got the mobile suit that is in the hangar with your CGUE."

"That unit is a reward for our efforts in the war, Lucius. That's all I can tell you." Rau really didn't want to talk to Drake anymore. "Don't you have business elsewhere?" Just then a soldier from the _Brisco_ entered.

"Sorry to interrupt you, Commander, but this is very important. We just confirmed that the machine with Commander Le Creuset's CGUE is in fact an Earth Alliance unit and that it was stolen from the enemy, along with three others like it."

Rau began gritting his teeth; he knew that the cat was out of the bag now as Drake started laughing.

"Now remind me again," Drake said, "how was your ship damaged?"

* * *

Kira decided that it was time to see how his friends were doing. He knew that other soldiers were onboard and he was getting worried about them. Just as he was about to head out, he felt three presences in the room. Turning to the door, he caught sight of two armed soldiers coming in, along with the one Kira had dealt with earlier.

_Dammit,_ thought Kira as Flay woke up and gasped in shock. He would have reacted but noticed the rifles in their hands, and the last thing that the young coordinator wanted to do was put Flay into any danger, so he held her hand and the three military personal led them out of the room.

"Thanks a lot," she said harshly. Kira remained silent. Suddenly the two teens heard something.

_Please, someone help me!_ pleaded a feminine voice from out of nowhere. Neither Kira nor Flay knew who was contacting them or how, but the latter was surprised, and not just by the sudden voice. The speaker sounded familiar to her, though she couldn't place her finger on it.

Soon they arrived at the cafeteria, where the others were being held. Kira noticed Sai, Tolle, and Milly, who were sitting next to Cagalli at a nearby table.

"Kira, Flay," Sai said, nodding a brief greeting to the pair. Cagalli just glared at Kira as if she was saying 'Way to go on getting me into this mess.' He took a seat across from her and was about to say something to her when the door slid open.

To the surprise of all present, Admiral Garcia entered, a few armed soldiers accompanying him.

"Alright," he said. "Who are the pilot and mechanic of the Strike?" Arnold Neumann walked towards the Admiral and his expression darkened.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked. Garcia simply grinned at this statement.

"We are aware that you are soldiers of the Atlantic Federation and you were selected for their secret military project."

"What are you planning to do with the Strike?" Neumann asked guardedly.

"We are not planning to do anything with it, but we feel honored to be granted the opportunity to see it before it is officially announced," said Garcia. "So tell me, who is the pilot?"

"The pilot's Lieutenant La Flaga," said one of the other crew members. Garcia laughed.

"We were watching your previous battle; it's quite obvious that La Flaga is the pilot of the Moebius Zero, and don't try to claim that Lieutenant Imelia was piloting it either." He paused for a moment as he noticed that one of his men, who had just come in, was badly bruised. "What happened to you?" he asked in disbelief.

Kira's eyes hardened, as he knew that it was the same soldier who had tried to rape Flay in the bathroom earlier, but he couldn't do anything at the moment; Murdoch was keeping the boy in his spot.

"I don't want to talk about it," the soldier replied to Garcia. "I'd rather not receive more pain." He suddenly saw Flay but didn't notice Kira. "Although I recognize the little red-head right over there. We had a rather unpleasant encounter a while back." Upon hearing this, Garcia grabbed hold of Flay and pulled her away from her seat.

"You had trouble with this young lady huh?" he asked. "I suppose that if the captain of this vessel is a woman, then why not the pilot of the Strike as well?" The girl struggled to get free but was unable to escape Garcia's grip.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, and that was all it took for Kira. Jerking free of Murdoch's grasp, he stood up onto the table.

"That's enough; I was the one piloting the Strike!"

_Oh shit! He's the Strike's pilot? _The soldier was shocked at this revelation, although, as he remembered getting his ass handed to him, it _did_ make sense.

"My," Garcia said, somewhat amused. "You really wish to protect this girl. How very cute. However, I highly doubt that you would be able to operate a complex machine like the Strike." Garcia let go of Flay and tried to hit Kira, but thanks to his Coordinator reflexes the boy managed to stop the arm from reaching him and threw the admiral onto the ground. Cagalli was surprised by what she had just seen.

_He must really like that girl if he was willing to reveal that he was piloting that thing, _she thought with a smirk. Of course, she also liked how Garcia ended up flat on his back.

"Kira is telling the truth. He's the pilot," said Flay. "If you want to know, he's a Coordinator." This got Garcia's attention. He got back up, a sense of awe in his eyes.

"He's a coordinator? Very well, take him to the hanger at once," he ordered, before setting his eyes on Flay. "Bring the girl with you in case he needs some persuasion." Two guards took Kira out of the cafeteria while another two dragged Flay out.

* * *

_Vesalius_, Rau's Office

* * *

"So you and your team were pushed back by a ship full of Naturals and their only mobile armor and mobile suit? How pitiful," said Drake. Rau had just finished briefing him on how the _Archangel_, the Strike and the Moebius Zero had held off Rau's pilots and escaped into the Artemis base.

"Rest assured, Lucius. I underestimated them once, but it will not happen again."

"Of course," replied Drake, glaring at the masked commander, "because I will make sure that you don't get another chance. They're mine now." Rau glared back at him.

"What makes you think that you will be able to destroy the Legged Ship or its compliment?" he retorted. Drake shook his head and took a puff from his cigarette.

"I have my ways, Rau," he said, "just like you have yours."

_Yeah, right._ Rau rolled his eyes behind his white mask. "You'd best be careful then," he said with a frown.

"They're Naturals," Drake said dismissively. "What harm would they do to me?" The door slid open, and he made his way toward it. "Thanks for the chat."

Rau watched Drake leave and began gritting his teeth at the thought of him actually taking down the Strike, the Moebius Zero and the enemy warship.

"Mark my words, Lucius Drake. I will destroy those fools, and you will not interfere."

* * *

Kira and Flay were brought before the Strike, and while the former remained calm, the latter was getting furious.

"You have no right to do this to someone like me you know! When my father finds out—" she was knocked onto the ground by one of the armed soldiers.

"Be silent!" Garcia grinned at the man's quip, and addressed Flay himself.

"I know all about your father, young lady. I couldn't care less, even if he is the Vice Minister, and I wouldn't hesitate in putting you out of your misery." He turned his attention towards Kira. "Now, if you don't mind, you will remove the lock on the OS."

_Dammit! _Thought Kira. Resistance at the moment was futile. "I'm not with the Earth Alliance; I'm just a civilian who ended up involved in the war."

"You are already a traitor towards your own kind," Garcia replied. Kira froze at those words.

"A traitor?" He remembered his encounter with Athrun, as well as the deaths of the GINN pilots.

"You may have been fighting to protect the _Archangel_, but you betrayed your own people," the Admiral said matter-of-factly. "Now, what will it be?"

"Alright, I'll remove the lock, but I'm doing this for her," Kira responded. He floated towards the cockpit as a guard brought Flay with him to make sure that the young Coordinator didn't get any bright ideas.

As soon as Kira started working on the keyboard, the entire hanger shook, and he used it as his chance to kick the guard away and pull Flay into the cockpit.

"What are you doing?" she asked, startled.

"I'm saving your life. Hold on, we're getting out of here," he said in a gentle tone as he made his way towards the catapult.

The Sword striker was equipped onto the Strike, and the mobile suit launched into the exterior. Flay had a death grip around Kira's arm. As the Strike cleared the catapult, Kira saw the GAT-X207 Blitz taking out several attacking Moebiuses.

_Oh great,_ thought Kira, as he realized that the Blitz had noticed him. The black machine fired its "Gleipnir" anchor at the Strike, and Kira countered by firing the "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchor. The two anchors collided and the two Gundams withdrew them.

Nicol activated his beam saber and swept it through a horizontal slash, only for it to be blocked by the Strike's Schwert Gewehr.

"He's good," the ZAFT pilot noted as sparks flew between them.

"Why can't you leave us alone!?" snarled Kira, kicking the Blitz away and swinging the Schwert Gewehr at the Gundam. Nicol managed to avoid being sliced in half and fired all three "Trikeros" darts at the enemy unit. "I'm not going to let you hurt her!"

Flay couldn't believe what she had just heard and she looked into his eyes to see how determined he was to protect her.

Kira dodged two of the incoming darts and bisected the third one. It was more of a reflex than anything else; the lancer darts weren't able to penetrate the Strike's PS Armor. He suddenly felt something and heard the voice from before scream _Help me!_ He took off to find where the voice was coming from, completely ignoring the Blitz. If there really was someone calling for help, then he would find her no matter what.

_Where are you?_ He suddenly sensed where the strange woman was, and flew towards the hatch of Artemis' hangar. He could hear the voice pleading. _I'm right in here!_ Bringing out his Schwert Gewehr, he slashed at the hatch, creating an opening.

Emerging from the opening was a blue mobile suit holding a beam rifle in its right hand and a shield in its left hand. A machine gun was attached to its hip. What surprised Kira and Flay was the fact that while the mobile suit's body resembled the Strike's, the head was completely different.

"Are you okay?" Kira hailed the mobile suit, wondering if the pilot was alright. The machine nodded its head.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you."

Kira didn't have a chance to continue the conversation, as his attention was seized by an explosion. Turning the Strike to face it, he saw that the Duel and Buster, along with a CGUE, had joined the fray.

"This is getting too dangerous," Kira said, addressing the unknown mobile suit. "Come with me." He led the blue mobile suit back to the _Archangel_, which was making its escape from the Artemis base. Many other ships were evacuating the doomed base as well.

Yzak took notice of the two retreating mobile suits, and would have gone after them had it not been for an explosion between him and Dearka.

"Goddammit!" he shouted in frustration.

"Yzak, Dearka, we have to get out of here right now!" came Shiho's voice as her CGUE caught up with them.

The _Archangel_ made it through the port gate along with the rest of the ships just as the base itself exploded from the all of the damaged it had received. Once back onboard, Kira emerged from the Strike's cockpit and floated to the deck while Flay held onto him tightly.

They turned their attention towards the blue mobile suit next to the Strike, which was surrounded by Murdoch, Mu, Murrue and the other mechanics, wondering who the pilot was.

"Why isn't the pilot coming out?" asked one of the mechanics, trying to open the mobile suit's hatch with little success. Kira and Flay floated towards the group.

"Is there a problem?" the former asked in surprise. Murdoch turned his attention towards the two teens.

"The pilot won't come out at all, we tried opening the hatch but nothing worked." Flay looked at the mobile suit and felt memories flashing before her eyes. However, these weren't her memories at all, but that of another woman. Kira turned to Flay and was getting a bit worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked. This shook Flay from her trance and she looked at Kira.

"I'm alright, but I could have sworn that I knew what this mobile suit was." She glanced at the mobile suit as it looked down at her.

"Huh?" Kira responded. Unable to answer him any better, Flay floated toward the mobile suit's cockpit and knocked on the hatch.

"Excuse me," she said. "Are you in there? Can you please come out?"

"I would like to, but I can't," replied the pilot as the cockpit opened up. To the shock of everyone in the hangar, there was no one inside.

"Oh, my God," one of the mechanics breathed. The blue mobile suit nodded.

"Yeah, you see, my soul is trapped inside this body." This shocked everyone in the hangar even more.

"Your soul is trapped inside?" asked Kira, still trying to process what he had just heard. The mobile suit nodded once again.

"Yes. My name is Marion Welch. I am, or should I say 'was', a scientist for the Zeon faction."

_Zeon?_ Kira felt there was something familiar about the name, but couldn't put his finger on it. Flay was wondering the same thing when Marion spoke once again.

"I can feel something very familiar about you. What's your name?"

"I'm Flay Allster," said Flay, briefly bowing down. "What do you mean you can feel something familiar about me?" Marion laughed a bit.

"Because I am what people in the past would call a Newtype."

"A Newtype?"

"A Newtype is an old word for someone with a sense of spatial awareness," Mu said. "I should know, being one myself." Mu refocused on the more pressing issue. "How was your soul trapped in that body, and what exactly is it?"

"The mobile suit I am in is the RX-79BD1 Blue Destiny unit 1, and how I was trapped in this body? There was an accident years ago; I was helping with the development of the EXAM when…"

"The experiment went wrong and your soul was imprinted in the EXAM, leaving you in a coma," Flay interrupted.

"Yeah, how did you know?" the mobile suit asked in disbelief.

"I'm not sure." Flay frowned at the thought of having known about the accident and how Marion ended up the way she was right now. Murrue walked towards Marion.

"Let me assure you, we will try and do whatever we can to help you," the captain said.

"You will? Thank you so much!" cried Marion in excitement. She would have smiled had it not been for the body she was residing in.

Flay smiled at Marion, she felt some kind of connection to her and knowing that she was among people she could be friends with actually made her happy.

* * *

Ame-no-Mihashira

* * *

Rondo Mina Sahaku was walking through the halls of the _Izumo_, deep in thought. She wondered what her twin brother had been up to when he assisted the Earth Alliance in developing the G-Weapons at Heliopolis. What really bothered her about it was the fact that Orb was supposed to be neutral and that now ZAFT would most likely mark them as an ally of the Alliance. As it stood, Orb was allies with neither ZAFT nor the Earth Alliance, and she knew that Lord Uzumi Nara Athha would be furious once he found out. Even if Morgenroete had taken the data for their own use and created the Astray units, she couldn't stomach the idea of Orb actually siding with the EA.

She knew something had to be done.

She made her way towards the hanger, where the MBF-P01 Astray Gold Frame was located.

_If Ghina has the aud__acity to think he can side with the Earth Alliance, then he has another think coming._ Mina's intention was to make sure that Ghina didn't get his hands on the unit he retrieved from Heliopolis; she couldn't trust him with it at all. She also wished to contact Lord Athha and reveal what her brother had done.

She wondered briefly what he had meant when he said he had suspected that he wasn't the only noble at the colony before it was destroyed, but shook that thought out of her head.

She arrived at her destination and contacted the bridge. "Set a course for Orb, but don't tell my brother."

"Why not?" the helmsman asked.

"Because, I don't trust him with the machine onboard, and because I wish to speak with Lord Athha," she replied.

"Very well; moving out."

"Thank you." Mina smiled as she cut the connection between her and the bridge, before turning to look out at the Gold Frame.

* * *

_Archangel_, Kira's Quarters

* * *

Kira lay on his bed in the dark, thinking about what Garcia had said to him earlier.

_Was I really a traitor to my own kind?_ he thought, squeezing his eyes shut tight. The door slid open, letting some light into the room, and he sat up to see somebody surprising.

"Flay?"

"Hey, Kira," said Flay, reaching for the wall switch and turning the lights on. "Are you alright?"

"Does it look like I'm alright?!" he looked away from the red-haired Natural. He really wasn't in the mood to talk right now, and he wished that he could have some time alone. Instead of leaving, Flay sat down next to Kira and brushed some of his bangs off his forehead. She wondered if all Coordinators were like this, but she shook that thought out of her head.

"Kira, I..." Kira gave her a confused look and wondered what she was trying to say. "I'm sorry, for earlier. I didn't mean to reveal that you were a Coordinator," she finally blurted out.

"It's alright, Flay. After all, it is true," said Kira. He didn't say anything more on that subject, as Flay gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush slightly. "Did you just..." Flay nodded and smiled at him.

"It's my way of saying thank you for saving me. I really don't know what I would do if you weren't around." Kira remained silent but smiled back at the girl who sat next to him. He started feeling a little better and thought about telling her how he felt, but he knew now wasn't the right time.


	8. Phase 7: The Scar of Space

Disclaimer: I don't own anything save Sasuke Blaze, Rin Canaver and their allies. Anthony Russo (aka the Artic White Wolf) and his team belong to Wingcommander WhiteWolf.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 07: The Scar of Space

By EmperorDraco7

"This is just great," Rena said. "Where are we going to get supplies?!" She couldn't believe that this was happening now of all times. It had been six says since the _Archangel_ had barely managed to escape from Artemis, and the senior officers were now discussing their next move.

"I wish I knew myself," replied Murrue. "On the positive side, we should at least be thankful that the _Laurasia_-class isn't pursuing us at the moment."

Natarle turned her attention towards the captain with a slightly worried expression. "So far, we are nowhere near Lunar Headquarters or any of the allied forces in this area," she began explaining. "Also, out of all the supplies we need, we are dangerously low on water, and it will only be a matter of time before we run out."

"I can see that," Murrue frowned at the ensign and then turned her attention towards Arnold Neumann and Mu La Flaga. "What's our current destination?"

"Right now we're currently headed towards the debris belt; it should take us about twelve days before we arrive there."

"The debris belt?" Rena didn't like the sound of that. "But isn't that where the remains of Junius Seven ended up after the nuclear missile destroyed it?" The other officers nodded.

This, however, gave a certain Hawk an idea. "Wait a minute." he turned around towards Murrue, Rena and Natarle. "If we're heading for the debris belt, why not resupply there?"

"Resupply at the debris belt?!" All three women asked Mu at the same time in surprise.

"Why not? After all, there are ships there from both sides, destroyed in previous conflicts, and they're bound to have what we need. Not to mention that Junius Seven has tons of water to last us a while."

Murrue thought this through. She knew that it would be a long time before they got to Lunar Headquarters and by the time they arrived, they would most likely have died of thirst. Of course, going to the debris belt could prove dangerous, due to the fact that if they plunged into the debris at speed, they could end up becoming part of it.

_I guess it's a risk we're going to have to take,_ she thought. "Very well, continue the course to the debris belt." Then she got up from her seat and headed for the door. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be in my office. I'd like to have a talk with Kira."

* * *

Speaking of Kira, he was walking through the halls of the ship, thinking about what would happen once the crew met up with any reinforcement forces. What was going to happen to him and the others? In fact, what would happen to the refugees onboard?

"Kira?"

"Huh?" he turned around and met face to face with Flay. "Hi, Flay," he said to her with a light smile. "What brings you here? I thought you would be with the others at the cafeteria."

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright" said Flay with a shrug. Just then, Birdy flew off of Kira's shoulder and went towards her. "Hey there." Kira laughed a bit.

"I think Birdy likes you."

Flay looked surprised at the statement. Birdy landed on her right shoulder and chirped its name. She looked down and smiled at it. "It looks kinda cute. Did you make it?"

"No, it was a gift from a friend," answered Kira, lowering his head a bit. The solemn reaction made Flay a bit worried.

"Who was this friend of yours? Could you tell me his or her name?" she asked him.

He remained silent for a moment, leaving her speechless as she waited for an answer. _Was it something I said?_ She thought to herself. "You don't have to answer, Kira. I'll leave." She was about to leave when she felt his hand grabbing hold of hers.

"Don't go," he nearly shouted as the red-haired girl turned to face him once again. After a few more seconds of silence, he finally answered. "His name's Athrun Zala; we met at Copernicus city when we were children."

"I see. The two of you must have been very close."

"Yes, we were," said Kira with a hint of sadness in his voice. "I thought that nothing could separate us, but seven years later Athrun and I went our separate ways. My family moved to Heliopolis and I never saw him again…until the day Heliopolis was attacked."

"What are you saying?"

"He's become a ZAFT soldier and my enemy now, as he pilots one of the four stolen machines, the GAT-X303 Aegis," he clenched his fists at the thought of his encounters with Athrun. "His mother was killed in the Bloody Valentine and I know he won't stop until he either captures me or destroys the _Archangel_, the only way I can prevent either of those things from happening is by fighting against him."

Flay was completely speechless at the information. She never thought that he really felt this way during battle. She opened her mouth to speak when she noticed Kira looking up. "What is it?"

"Shhh…" he hushed and went past her, looking to see if there was anyone present nearby. Although he couldn't see who it was, he could feel their presence. "Cagalli, is that you?"

"Huh?" asked a surprised Cagalli, revealing herself to both Kira and Flay. "How did you know I was here?"

"I'm not sure; I just knew for some reason," said the brown-haired Coordinator before realizing something. "You heard everything I just said, didn't you?"

Cagalli remained silent and nodded. Kira frowned at this, but before he had a chance to say something, Murrue's voice came through the intercom.

_Attention, would Kira Yamato please report to my office? I want to have a word him._

"Sorry about that. We'll have to talk about this later," said Kira, making his way towards the captain's office.

* * *

The Debris Belt

* * *

A single _Nazca_-class destroyer cruised through the debris and remains of what was once the PLANT known as Junius Seven. On the bridge stood a man with dark grey hair, wearing the uniform of a ZAFT captain. His brown eyes gazed with horror at the sight in front of him.

_My god, to think all of this started because of one nuclear missile_, Captain Matt Natsume thought to himself. _All those lives lost…_ He turned his attention towards the ship's commander. A topaz-eyed woman in her twenties, her long brown hair braided into a ponytail that went down to her lower back, sat in a seat next to Natsume's. "This is ridiculous; the _Silverwind_ would never be here this long. What if…"

"I would advise you not to say such a thing. We are on a mission to find Ms. Clyne and return her safely to the PLANTs," Hannah Yun calmly reminded him. "Besides, I'm sure that Sasuke wouldn't be happy if he heard you say that."

Natsume remained silent when he heard that and the commander sighed. Sasuke Blaze, son of Representative Saria Blaze of the PLANT Supreme Council and the late Dr. Seth Blaze, had been a very close friend of Lacus Clyne's ever since the two of them had met when they were 7, and she knew that it would be crushing to both him and her father, Chairman Siegel Clyne, if they were unsuccessful in finding her.

"Any sign of the _Silverwind_?" she asked the communications officer.

"Negative, Commander. We're doing the best we can right now but no matter how much we try, we can't get anything."

"Damn," cursed Hannah, clenching her right fist in anger. "Keep searching, we can't give up. Are Seto, Sasuke and Rin ready for launch yet?"

"Almost, they're in their mobile suits right now," answered the officer, nodding his head to the commander.

Hannah smiled a bit. "Good. If anything goes wrong I'll head out there in my CGUE." Her smile then faded. "Hopefully we won't run into any Earth Alliance ships in the area."

In the hangar, Sasuke floated towards his mobile suit, thinking about the situation at hand. He had cobalt hair and blood red eyes, which showed those who looked into them deep enough that he wasn't just a regular pilot. He wore a red ZAFT pilot suit and inside the helmet was a red headband, bearing the ZAFT symbol on the front of it.

_Lacus, please be okay, _he thought, a worried expression on his face as he got into the cockpit of his silver and black CGUE and closed the hatch. _If anything happens to her, I would never forgive myself._

"Hey, Sasuke" came a voice that shook him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see his older brother, Seto Blaze, on screen. Seto had dark grey eyes and the same cobalt-blue hair as his younger brother. "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Sasuke. "How about you?"

"I'm good and don't worry, bro, we'll find Lacus and bring her back home safe and sound. You can count on that."

Sasuke nodded. "Okay, but be careful out there. The Debris Belt is a dangerous place if you don't know your way around."

"Relax, I can handle myself." With that, Seto's face disappeared from the screen and the pilots heard the order to launch. The first mobile suit to take off was Seto's ZGMF-LRR704B GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type, followed by a TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero piloted by their cousin, Rin Canaver.

On May 1st of last year, a special team of ZAFT soldiers had succeeded in capturing the Moebius Zero unit and knew that it would prove useful for their allies. The only problem was that there were only few pilots who could control the Gunbarrels until Rin volunteered and tested it out herself. What shocked the technicians was that she had a heightened sense of spatial awareness, much like legendary commander Rau Le Creuset himself, and was eventually assigned the captured mobile armor. In her first battle, she was able to destroy a total of 20 Moebiuses and a single _Drake_-class destroyer in 3 minutes, which surprised many in the ZAFT military. Even Sasuke and Seto couldn't believe what they had just seen.

As soon as the Zero had launched, Sasuke's CGUE made its way to the catapult and he gripped the controls firmly, knowing what he must do. If he was to encounter an enemy, he would take it down without any mercy.

_Okay, here I go,_ he thought as soon as everything was green and he had been given the signal. "Sasuke Blaze, CGUE launching!"

The CGUE was hurled into space, and it flew straight towards the debris field, meeting up with the Moebius Zero and the GINN Long Range Recon Type. On the bridge, Hannah watched as her pilots moved further from the ship.

"Good luck," she whispered softly.

* * *

_Archangel_, Murrue's Office

* * *

Murrue sat in her chair, waiting patiently for Kira to arrive as she had few things she wished to ask of him. Although, she wondered if he would be willing to speak to her after the events that had taken place earlier.

She was beginning to reconsider her decision when she noticed Kira enter. "You wished to speak with me, Captain?" he asked.

"I'm glad you could make it," she smiled when she saw him. "I called you here because there was something I couldn't stop thinking about."

Kira wondered what the captain was talking about as she continued. "You know the pilot who stole the Aegis, this Athrun was it?" he looked surprised by this. "Is there a problem?"

Kira shook his head. "No" he paused for a moment. "Yes, there is something troubling me," he sighed in defeat. He started to explain to Murrue who Athrun was and the fact that he was part of ZAFT now. She was completely surprised at the fact that Kira would even consider telling her at all; she felt a bit bad for him having to fight against his best friend.

"I…. I'm sorry about what you're going through, but try to understand there is a war going on," she began speaking. "However, since he is your best friend, I will say this… I'm not going to make you kill him. You have to continue protecting the _Archangel_, but that does not include specifically trying to harm your best friend."

Kira sighed with a hint of relief, and Murrue noticed a smile forming on his face. "Is there anything else you want to know?" he then remembered something important. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Earlier, while we were still at Artemis, one of the refugees, Flay Allster, was nearly raped by one of the Eurasian soldiers in the bathroom. I managed to save her though."

Murrue froze in shock. She was grateful that Kira had intervened when this event had happened and wondered what Flay's father would say if any harm had been done to her. The last thing she would want to deal with was a seriously pissed off Vice Minister.

"Thank you for telling me this," she said suddenly. "The _Archangel_ will be making a quick stop; the crew and I will explain in full to you and your friends when we call you to the bridge. You are dismissed."

Kira nodded and left the room, wondering where they were currently headed.

* * *

The _Brisco_ traveled through the depth of space, searching for the ship that had bested the Le Creuset Team and their captured machines. On the bridge, Lucius Drake sat in his Commander's chair, deep in thought about what Rau had said to him before.

_Le Creuset is a fool. Does he really think that I would actually be defeated by a ship full of Naturals and their only mobile suit and mobile armor? No matter. Once I find it, my Team and I will launch, and soon it will be nothing more than debris._

He clenched his fists at the thought of this and glared out into the blackness of space, with nothing but stars lighting all around. _What kind of idiot would I be to allow myself to lose to inferior pilots?_

"Are there any allied forces in the area?" he decided to ask the crew.

"Hold on," said the communications officer. "There's the Yun-Law Team; they're currently in the Debris Belt, near the remains of Junius Seven."

"Junius Seven?" This caught Drake's interest. After all, wouldn't that be where the _Silverwind_, containing none other than the lovely Lacus Clyne, would be? Of course it would be there; the anniversary of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy _was_ approaching. "Set a course for that section of the Debris Belt!" he ordered.

"Huh? Why would you want us to head there?" asked the captain in surprise, turning to look up at the commander. "And what about the enemy ship that Commander Le Creuset told you about?"

"The enemy can wait. There is no way we can pass up the chance to see if Ms. Clyne is okay," answered Drake. "Not to mention that Commander Yun is there as well, so we should take the opportunity to check up on her and her team. Now, to the Junius Seven at once."

"Understood, Sir," said the captain before relaying the order to the rest of the crew. Drake looked out back into space and smiled. Even though he was part of a military and fighting a war, he knew that Lacus' safety came first.

_I wonder if Yun will be happy to see me. I highly doubt it, as Le Creuset wasn't too thrilled when we crossed paths with each other._

* * *

_Archangel_, Cafeteria

* * *

Kira arrived, still thinking about where the _Archangel_ was headed to, but knew that Murrue and the rest of the crew would tell him when he and his friends were called to the bridge. For now, he could use some time with his family since he'd been with his friends most of the time.

"Hey, Kira," said a voice that shook him from his thoughts. He turned to around to see Flay approaching him. "So what happened?"

"It's nothing really," he told her before looking around to see if his parents and Aya were present. After a few seconds, he finally caught a glimpse of them at a table not too far from where the teens were standing. "I was just about to spend some time with my parents a while, I can take you to meet them if you want."

"What?" She started blushing slightly. "You want me of all people to meet your family? I don't know, what if…" Kira chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll like you, and this is your choice if you want to or not" he reassured her. "You're my friend now, trust me."

She thought about this for a moment, leaving Kira waiting for an answer. She suddenly smiled and responded. "You win."

He smiled back at her before leading her to where his parents and younger sister were sitting; it would be great to be with them after the battles that had taken place. "Hey," he called out, catching their attention.

"Hello, Kira" his mother, Caridad Yamato stood up and greeted her son with a tight embrace, which he returned without hesitation. "We didn't think you'd have time to see us." She suddenly noticed Flay with him. "Who's this?"

"You must be Mrs. Yamato," the redhead said. "I'm Flay Allster."

Aya took note of Flay, and an innocent smile crossed her face. "Are you his girlfriend?"

Both Kira and Flay began blushing slightly. "No… I just know him because we went to the same school and sometimes we have the same classes," replied the latter. _Although to be honest, he is kinda cute._

"Please sit down," smiled Haruno Yamato. "We have plenty of room."

The two teens nodded and took a seat across from Kira's father and sister. His mother sat down next to her son. "So tell us about yourself, Flay. Do your parents know that you're okay?" she asked the red-haired girl.

"Well I…" Flay paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to them. "I'm not sure my father knows. He's a vice minister of the Atlantic Federation and I don't see him very often. My mother…" The Yamatos noticed tears beginning to form in her eyes at the mention of her mother.

"Is there something wrong, Flay?" Kira asked with a worried expression on his face. That's when it suddenly hit him. "Did something happen to your mother?" She remained completely silent and nodded her head. "Listen, if you don't want to talk about it, that will be alright, but it will continue to dwell inside of you until you open up to someone."

Deep down, she knew that Kira was right and breathed in before looking at the Yamato family. "My mother, Maria Allster, died when I was a little girl. She was always there when I had troubles in my childhood and I was completely devastated when I learned about her death."

This left the Yamatos completely speechless, not to mention feeling quite sorry for her. Kira pulled her closer toward him and hugged her tightly. This surprised the red-haired girl, and she looked straight into his eyes. "Kira?"

"Flay, I'm very sorry about what happened to your mother," he said in a soft tone. "She must have been a very kind person."

"She was, and it's not your fault that she died. I remembered that she read bedtime stories to me; she would even sing to me whenever I was upset. She was even known for donating money to charity."

Kira's parents were quite amazed by this and the both of them did nothing but smile at her as she started to feel better for having told them about her late mother. _This girl might make a good, no a great wife for Kira,_ thought Caridad.

"So what was your life like?" Flay decided to change the subject and wished to learn more about them, more specifically Kira.

Kira laughed a bit and looked at his parents, who nodded their heads. "Alright, pay attention though," he started to explain more about his childhood, the details that he was laying out left Flay surprised, and she started wondering if her father was indeed wrong about the Coordinators.

Perhaps when this war was over, maybe she could spend time with the Yamato family more often. She suddenly smiled at that thought.

* * *

Space, Debris Belt

* * *

Being a member of a military, Sasuke had obligations to protect not only the people he cared about but his homeland as well. Every time he saw the remains and the lifeless bodies that floated among them, he started to feel sick to his stomach. Clenching his fists, he began flying off to another part of the Debris Belt.

While Patrick Zala was the most famous, he wasn't the only one to have lost a family member in the Bloody Valentine. Sasuke and Seto's father, Dr. Seth Blaze, had been killed in the destruction of Junius Seven as well. Seeing the lives lost, the two and Rin had joined ZAFT to ensure that such a tragedy would never happen again.

He started thinking about his surviving family members like his mother, his aunt, his youngest cousin Kaguya Canaver, and his grandfather Un No Blaze.

Speaking of Un No, he wondered how he was doing, as he hadn't seen him for about nine years, prior to the Blazes moving to the PLANTs. He remembered that his grandfather didn't know about Seth's death and he started clenching the controls whenever he thought about it.

_Hey, Sasuke! _came Rin's voice through communications, shaking him from his thought and returning him to reality. _You'll never guess what I just found!_

"Is it the _Silverwind_?"

_No, but it's huge! You better get over and see for yourself!_ She replied before sending the blue-haired elite the coordinates to reach her. _I'll let Seto and the others know where I am._

"Gotcha, I'll be right over." He jetted off and began making his way toward Rin's location. He was sure to follow the coordinates carefully so that he wouldn't make any wrong turns. Eventually, he saw Rin's Moebius Zero and Seto's GINN Long Range Recon Type ahead of him. Waiting with them were two GINN High Maneuver Types, one of them dark brown while the other was red and silver with the torso overall black.

"About time you showed up," the face of Miyuki Star, the pilot of the red, silver and black GINN HM, popped up on Sasuke's CIS. She laughed lightly, absentmindedly attempting to flip her hair out of her left eye, to no avail.

"You know I don't like getting lost, Miyuki," shrugged Sasuke with a huff. "Besides, it's always good to take your time."

Miyuki chuckled. "If you say so." She set her attention on Rin's Moebius Zero. "So, what did you call us for?"

"Take a good look over there." She turned her Zero around to the right, the linear cannon aiming at something large not too far from them. It appeared to be made from a combination of destroyed ships and some other debris. However, it didn't take long for Sasuke and Seto to realize what it was.

"The Graveyard…"

Jason Saito, the pilot of the dark brown GINN HM, looked at the CGUE and the GINN LRRT in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"I've heard about it but I never thought it existed," Miyuki placed a hand on her red helmet, remembering what she had heard about the Graveyard. "It was made with nothing but debris from destroyed ships and it's said to have breathable air and a reasonable supply of water."

"Not to mention that the only ones who reside there are skilled craftsmen and masters of the lost arts," added the cobalt-blue haired CGUE pilot. "Although it doesn't have anything of use for ZAFT or for the Earth Alliance, it has attracted the attention of several pirates and eventually the population that resided there was nearly completely decimated."

Rin remained completely silent as she began making her way towards the infamous Graveyard. "Hey, Rin, where are you doing?" asked Jason, noticing the Zero leaving the group.

"I'm heading for the Graveyard. Who knows, we might find something important."

Jason rolled his eyes and sighed. "You know that we are supposed to be searching for the _Silverwind_, not exploring some creepy Graveyard."

"Jason, I'm going too," said Sasuke with a serious look on his face. "Besides, I don't want any harm to come to my cousin."

"Same here," added Seto as he and his brother flew off to try and catch up with the Moebius Zero. "You and Miyuki can stay but we're going after Rin."

Miyuki glared at Jason's GINN HM for a moment before taking off as well. "Not you too, Miyuki!"

"Come on, I doubt that there's anything dangerous there. Besides, we're just going to make a quick visit and then go back to our mission," she told her comrade.

Jason stayed where he was, still thinking about whether to go with the others or return to the _Kenshi_. He knew he couldn't abandon his allies, yet he didn't want to forget about Lacus or the _Silverwind_ either. After a few seconds, he sighed.

"Fine, wait up!" he said before making his way towards the Graveyard as well. "I don't know what I'm getting myself into."

* * *

In another part of the debris belt, former ZAFT commander Anthony Russo found it hard to sleep there in the ruins of Junius Seven, his white GINN LRRT using minimal power to preserve the battery. "We're rebuilding Artemis. God, who are we? The Junk Guild?" He chuckled until he picked up a ship's thermal pattern. "That must be the new warship everyone is talking about." He slowly maneuvered his GINN to hide among the debris in order to avoid detection from the _Archangel_ as he watched the ship approaching. "They're not my enemy, but I'll keep an eye on them."

He began to wonder why it would be here of all places, wasn't it supposed to be heading for their Earth Alliance base on the moon?

* * *

_Archangel_, Bridge

* * *

Unaware of the GINN LRRT, Murrue and the other senior officers had called Kira and his friends for a mission that required their services: gathering supplies from Junius Seven. The young Coordinator, who was surprised that Cagalli of all people had joined with them, took notice of Rena glaring at him for some reason and knew that it wasn't a good sign.

"You need our help to gather supplies?" Tolle was the first to ask, wondering why the crew needed them of all people. "And you want us to get them from the debris belt?"

"Trust me, we're going to need all the help we can get," answered Mu in a serious tone. "Besides, if we continue on our course to lunar headquarters we'll run out of food and, more importantly, water. You don't want to know what fate would await us if that were to happen, do you?"

"Moving on, the debris belt consists of destroyed ships and other items that have been drifting around in Earth orbit," explained Murrue. "However, it is also where the remains of Junius Seven reside."

"Did you just say Junius Seven?"

Everyone turned their attention towards none other than Cagalli, who was shocked that the captain had mentioned the colony. "Yes I did," Murrue replied. "Is there a problem?"

The blonde-haired girl's shock then turned to anger. "Of course there's a problem; that's the name of the PLANT that was destroyed by a nuclear missile fired by an Earth Alliance Moebius last year!" she snapped. "It was the reason this damned war even began!"

Murrue lowered her head, she knew that Cagalli did have a good point and if it wasn't for the N-Jammers being deployed by ZAFT on both Earth and in space, the tragedy would have been repeated. The question is how it was even possible for a nuclear missile to have ended up on the _Agamemnon_–class carrier _Roosevelt_ in the first place.

She shook off those thoughts, remembering that there was a more important matter to attend to, yet she still wondered about why the Earth Alliance even attacked the PLANTs in the first place.

_Get a hold of yourself, Murrue. You're a soldier and now is not the time to think about the innocent lives that were lost,_ she thought to herself before raising her head with a serious expression.

"About what I said before, Junius Seven's remains now reside in the debris belt and we are going to need to take our supplies not only from the destroyed vessels but also from the ruins."

"Captain Ramius," Sai interrupted. "I don't think its right to take something that belongs or belonged to the dead."

"I understand that you feel this way, but you need to know that there is no other option," replied the captain. "We're only going to be taking what we need, that's all."

"I understand," frowned Sai, still not liking this one bit.

"The students and some the regular crew will be using the MAW-01 Mistrals for the task at hand. Meanwhile, Kira and Lieutenant La Flaga will accompany you in the Strike and the Moebius Zero to watch out for anything suspicious. I'm not sure if Marion will be up for it, but it wouldn't hurt to talk with her." She paused for a moment, once again thinking about the civilians who had died in the Bloody Valentine Tragedy.

The teens nodded their heads; they too realized that there was no other way to get the supplies they needed, not to mention that Kira was the only one who could pilot the Strike, due to him being a Coordinator. Cagalli floated up towards the captain.

"Listen carefully. The only reason I'm helping is the fact that you have refugees onboard this ship. That doesn't mean I'm part of the Earth Alliance, got it?"

This got the attention of Natarle, Rena, Mu and the rest of the bridge crew. They began wondering if the blonde had a deep hatred of the Earth Alliance because of what had happened to Junius Seven.

"Very well." She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in what the girl had said to her. "You know what, I've been thinking about the lives that were lost in the destruction of Junius Seven, and I can't help but feel regret for what happened…." She paused, clenching her right fist and slowly opening her eyes to face the crew. "I think it would be the right thing to do if we do something to honor those lives."

This surprised everyone. Natarle soon spoke. "It does make sense. The anniversary of the Bloody Valentine is approaching after all, and I suppose that a memorial is an appropriate way of remembering the dead."

Mu and Rena remained silent while nodding their heads, the latter as well as Natarle, while not showing it, was actually feeling bad. The two women had joined the Earth Alliance to fight against ZAFT. However, they did not do so to harm any civilians, and the thought of doing so made them shudder inside.

Kira and Mu, being Newtypes, could feel the officers' current emotions, but didn't say anything to either of them since they knew that it wouldn't be the right time. For now, recovering the supplies they needed was more important.

Hopefully, they would accomplish this mission without having to worry about running into any ZAFT forces in the area.

* * *

Graveyard, Hangar

* * *

Sasuke landed his CGUE next to Rin's Moebius Zero and was soon joined by Seto's GINN LRRT, and both Miyuki's and Jason's GINN HMs. Once air was allowed into the room, the violet-haired girl and her orange-haired cousin exited their units.

"Wait here, I'll be back once we're done with this place," Seto told his co-pilot before climbing down to the ground.

"Okay, we're here, so let's go get what we're looking for and get out of here." Jason crossed his arms, wanting to be done with the Graveyard as soon as possible. "This place gives me the creeps."

"What's wrong, are you afraid?"

"Huh? Me afraid? Hell no. I'm just saying that this place gives me the creeps," stated Jason. "Besides, I doubt that there would be anything of interest here."

"Right…" Miyuki rolled her visible cerulean-colored eye before turning her attention towards Seto and Rin. "So, is there a good reason to come here?"

Rin closed her emerald eyes; she felt a few presences in the Graveyard thanks to her Newtype abilities. "It looks like we're not the only ones here."

"Huh?" The other four elites looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean we're not the only ones here?" Seto asked her, almost forgetting about her sense of spatial awareness.

"Just trust me on this, okay?" She made her way forward, not caring if there would be anything that would try and stop her, not that there were any defenses in this place. Seto sighed and looked at the CGUE and the two GINN HMs before walking off with the three mobile suits following close behind, watch their backs just in case.

Sasuke readied his rifle and kept his eyes forward, knowing that there was nothing that would change his cousin's mind about this. Just then, he heard something that echoed through the entire hall.

"What was that?"

"That's weird; I could have sworn that I heard a dog barking," said Rin, shaking her head and thinking that there was nothing to worry about.

Just then, two railgun slugs came towards the group; Sasuke moved forward and used his shield to protect his cousin and brother from the blasts. Coming out of the shadows was a TMF/A-802 BuCUE, one of the earth-bound mobile suits created by ZAFT early in the war. This unit had two railguns mounted on its back.

"What's a BuCUE doing all the way out here?" he asked himself in disbelief as the dog-like mobile suit jumped at him and tried to hit his machine with its left forepaw. However, he jumped out of the way and fired the assault rifle at the enemy unit.

Unfortunately for him, the BuCUE moved to the left and countered with its railguns. Sasuke protected himself with his shield while he kept shooting at it, hoping that it would make a mistake. Miyuki and Jason fired their rifles at the enemy machine as well. The blue-haired pilot gritted his teeth as it dodged each of their shots.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he took aim once again before he heard a voice through communications.

_Attention, ZAFT forces, if you value your lives you will leave this place at once. I do not take kindly to those who would try to steal from here._

Sasuke froze upon hearing the voice. _No, it can't be…_ he thought before he saw a railgun shot being fired at him and his allies' GINN HMs, forcing them to separate in three directions. He flipped over the slugs and the BuCUE itself before targeting it with his gun again. Just as he was about to fire, he saw someone on top of the unit. It was an elderly man, but judging by the expression on the young ninja's face when he saw him, the stranger might as well have been a ghost.

"Grandpa…" he breathed, not believing his own eyes and nearly dropping his guard as the BuCUE leapt at him. He snapped out of it in time to get out of the way.

Meanwhile, Rin and Seto were just as shocked as Sasuke upon seeing the old man on the BuCUE's head, but they remained completely motionless, neither of them saying a word until the former noticed the BuCUE getting ready to attack again.

"Grandpa, stop it!" she shouted to the man, causing both him and the BuCUE to turn their attention towards her and her eldest cousin.

"Who are you and why did you call me that?" asked the man with a serious expression on his face, not taking his eyes off of the two.

"Grandpa, it's me, Rin," said Rin before removing her helmet, revealing her face and her violet hair to him. "My cousin Sasuke is piloting that CGUE while Seto is standing next to me and our friends are piloting the two GINN HMs."

The three pilots exited their mobile suits and, along with Seto, took their helmets off to show the old man who they were.

Miyuki had unusually long, flowing hair that stopped right at her mid-back, which was half white and half black, with the black hair covering her left eye.

Jason, on the other hand, had short auburn hair and silver eyes which, if one looked into them, showed that he was a fighter and someone you shouldn't underestimate.

The man gasped in shock upon seeing their faces, especially those of his three grandchildren. "Stand down, Denpachi" he told the one piloting the BuCUE as he jumped off of its head.

The hatch on the underbelly of the mobile suit opened and coming out was a brown Labrador dog. The pilots stared at it in disbelief as it went over towards Rin and began licking her face.

"Hey, Denpachi! It's been a while since we last saw you," laughed Rin, happy to see him. The dog proceeded to lick Sasuke's face and then Seto's.

"Hold on here, you know this dog?" Jason crossed his arms and wondered what was going on. "Also, how is it possible for it to know how to pilot a BuCUE?"

"Of course we know Denpachi; he's grandpa's companion. Back when my family was still living in Japan, Rin, Seto and I always played with him during our spare time," answered Sasuke while petting Denpachi. "How he is able to pilot a BuCUE…I'm not too sure on that."

"I see," he then focused his attention towards the old man. "Who are you anyway?"

"I am Un No, I am the guardian of this place," he introduced himself sternly. "And you are?"

"I'm Jason Saito of the ZAFT military's Yun-Law Team." Jason approached the old man and bowed down briefly to him.

"And my name is Miyuki Star. I'm also a member of the Yun-Law Team," she bowed down to Un No as well. "I'd heard rumors that there were skilled masters residing here and I wondered if they were true."

Un No remained silent for a moment before turning to Sasuke, Seto and Rin. "Tell me, why did you come here?"

"Well, Rin noticed this place and thought that it would be a good idea to explore it…" Sasuke started scratching the back of his head while Rin started laughing sheepishly. "We never thought that you and Denpachi would be residing here."

"I see. How is your family doing? I heard about what happened to Seth and I…" he never finished was what he was going to say and he started to look down at the ground at the thought of his late son.

"Not good. My mom is still upset about father's death, and to be honest so are we," said the blue-haired teen before looking at his older brother and cousin, taking note of their sadness. "Rin and I joined the ZAFT military after the Bloody Valentine Tragedy and swore that no more innocent lives would be lost because of this damn war."

Un No remained completely silent, looking into his youngest grandson's eyes, and could tell that he had changed since the death of Dr. Blaze last year. He hoped that nothing bad would come of it.

That was when he heard Rin speak.

"The anniversary of the Bloody Valentine is coming and the reason we're even at the debris belt is to meet with the _Silverwind_ and to honor those that perished." She paused for a moment and sighed before she continued. "If you aren't too busy, you can come with us to prepare, and don't worry, we'll make sure no pirates try to take this place."

The old man thought it over, the others watching intently. Sasuke, Seto and Rin knew that the Graveyard was a sacred place and they intended to keep it out of the war.

"Very well," he answered. The violet haired girl smiled upon hearing that.

"Thank you, Grandpa. If there's anything we can do to repay you, please tell us and we will try to do what we can."

"There is one thing that I must ask of you," he said to the teens. "Sasuke, Rin, Seto, I would like for you to come with me."

"Sure," Sasuke climbed back into his CGUE and began to follow his grandfather, with Rin and Seto close behind, wondering what they were needed for.

* * *

Meanwhile, the _Brisco_ slowly approached the Debris Belt, and Drake watched the remains of Junius Seven from the bridge with a rather cold expression on his face. Of course, they would need to be careful as there could be pirates in the area.

On the other hand, pirates were a low priority to him, as he had other important matters to attend to; he turned to his crew. "Be sure to report any signs of trouble if you find any, I don't want us to be caught off guard while we're here."

"Yes sir, we'll keep our eyes on the scanner," replied one of the crewmen in a smooth tone of voice.

"Good." Drake put a hand on his chin, wondering how strong the Earth Alliance's warship was, as it was capable of handling the Le Creuset Team and its captured Gundams. Then there was the pilot of the remaining Earth Alliance controlled unit, just how skilled was he or she?

_If the captured machines that Le Creuset had in his possession were held off by one unit, then I highly doubt that the pilot is a Natural,_ he thought. _No matter, the pilot and the enemy ship will be destroyed should we ever cross paths with them, and that masked fool will not interfere._

A grin crept across his face at that thought. "Besides, I have a feeling that I know who the pilot of the Moebius Zero is."

* * *

Back at the Graveyard, Un No was leading Sasuke, Seto and Rin through the halls. The three ZAFT elites wondered what he needed them for, but they knew that it was very important, as he had called the three of them specifically.

"Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?" asked Seto, taking notice of the sudden heat that was surrounding them.

"It's not you, I'm feeling it too," answered Sasuke, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Grandpa, what's going on?"

"You'll find out," grinned Un No before stopping what he was doing, causing his grandchildren to do the same. "Take a good look," he pointed to a giant mobile suit sized katana.

"What is that?"

"That is the Gerbera Straight, a weapon created specifically for those who are worthy of wielding it," Un No explained to the three as the cobalt-haired Coordinator got out of his CGUE. "Sasuke, I can tell that you've become quite skilled with your katana and as a mobile suit pilot."

"Yes, Grandpa," said Sasuke, nodding his head before he realized something. "You mean…"

"That's right, I'm entrusting you with this weapon, as I know that you are worthy of this task. However, the secrets of this weapon must never be revealed to either ZAFT or the Earth Alliance."

"I understand, Grandpa. I promise I won't let you down." Sasuke looked at his grandfather with determination; he wondered how the others would react to seeing his new weapon. Sure, he liked the CGUE's heavy sword, but he preferred to use a katana, after all, as it was his more favored weapon.

"Man, you are so lucky," said Seto before rubbing his fist into his younger brother's hair while Rin laughed and smiled at this moment. The thought of her cousin actually using it in battle amazed her and she sometimes wished that she could use it. Had it not been for the fact that she was using a Moebius Zero, she might actually have been able to.

However, the first thing to do was to get ready for the anniversary and see if the _Silverwind_ would be present, as Lacus would most likely be onboard and would want to pay her respects to the dead.

* * *

The _Archangel_ had sent out the Strike, Moebius Zero, Blue Destiny (Murrue, Kira and his friends had managed to convince Marion to help them out) and six Mistral units to collect the supplies they needed in order to survive their trek to the Earth Alliance's Lunar Headquarters. However, they had also prepared for a small ceremony specifically for the people of Junius Seven.

Flay and Miriallia were each carrying a bouquet of origami flowers that they and the refugees had made a while back. Flay was thinking about what Cagalli had said before, and the thought of how the PLANT had been destroyed made her shudder inside.

Quickly shaking those thoughts from her head, she and Milly released the flowers and watched as they floated through space.

She then thought about her father, and wondered if there was a chance for him to see that not all Coordinators were space monsters as many thought they were. For now, the _Archangel_ needed to gather what they came for before considering that at all.

Kira, Mu, Marion and everyone onboard the _Archangel_ saluted as Murrue clutched a pendant that was around her neck.

* * *

In another part of the Debris Belt, the ZAFT units, minus Seto's GINN LRRT as it had left to scout the area to see if it was safe, and a brown ZGMF-1017 GINN stood on a piece of debris. Sasuke held his Gerbera Straight up, Un No did the same with his own sword before putting it next to his grandson's, and began saying something in Japanese. Inside his GINN HM, Jason couldn't help but ask. "What is he saying?"

"He's saying 'May those who died in this terrible tragedy rest in peace.'" said Rin. She had some Japanese heritage herself, enabling her to translate everything her cousin was saying.

"Oh…." he seemed to understand it a bit as he went back to looking at the blackness of space. "I hope we won't be seeing anymore of this debris, I'm going to show the Earth Alliance what a soldier fighting to protect his family can do."

"Same here," added Miyuki with a single nod, her uncovered eye closed as she remembered the good times she'd had with her late family.

"We're all going to show them." Sasuke faced them as his eyes darkened, but weren't hateful at all. "Don't worry; once this war is over we can be with the ones we care about again without the fear of losing them, that's a promise."

* * *

Seto was busy with his search, hoping that there wouldn't be any pirates or any other enemy forces within the Debris Belt, and so far he and his co-pilot had been lucky. Of course, ever since the war began, he usually had bad luck as he would find EA ships and mobile armors to report back to Hannah so she and her team would be ready for them.

Once he was finished his searching, after about an hour or so, he assumed that there was nothing to worry about, and was about to head back to meet with the others when he noticed something to the far right. Curiosity got the better of both him and the co-pilot as they went over to see what it was, and their eyes widened in horror when they got a closer look at it.

"Oh my god, the _Silverwind_…." muttered Seto, horrified at the sight of the civilian vessel. It had been heavily damaged and wasn't moving at all. What had happened to it and how did it get this way?

Going closer to it, Seto hoped that there would be survivors; otherwise he would have to tell his allies the bad news. "Could things get any worse?" he asked himself as he prepared to exit his machine.

Unfortunately for him, things were about to become worse, as the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam and the Mistral pods were busy at work in the same area, unaware of his presence until a certain brown-haired Coordinator noticed the damaged _Silverwind_ and detected the ZAFT unit.

"Huh?" Kira looked at the screen and couldn't believe what he saw. "A GINN? What's it doing all the way out here?" he checked the databanks to see what he was dealing with. "Oh no, it's a Long Range Reconnaissance Type."

He hid from the GINN's sight and readied his beam rifle before taking aim at it. He knew that he had to take it out fast, or it would eventually find the _Archangel_ and contact reinforcements, but he was hoping that it would leave.

"Go away; I really don't want to have to do this…" he said, keeping his eyes on it and his hands on the controls in case something were to happen.

After what seemed to be a minute or so, the GINN LRRT took one final glance at the _Silverwind_ and jetted off. Kira sighed in relief that it was over… or so he thought as the Mistral piloted by Flay and Rena appeared on the screen, causing the enemy mobile suit to detect the pod and move towards it.

Seeing the mobile suit fire on the pod, Kira wasted no time in firing his beam rifle. The beam grazed the Recon Type's left shoulder and it took aim with its sniper rifle. Seto and the co-pilot gritted their teeth when they saw the Strike and prepared to attack. However, the final thing that they both saw was a second emerald shot, which drilled through the cockpit, causing the GINN LRRT to float backwards and eventually explode.

"DAMMIT!!!" Before its destruction, Kira felt two lives fading away and he slammed his fists against the panel, angry upon knowing that he had just killed not one but two people, even if it was to save Flay and Rena. He then hailed the pod. "You two okay?"

_Yeah, thanks to you_ he heard Flay's voice through communications before hearing Rena huff, a sign that they were alright.

* * *

_Brisco_, Bridge

* * *

"Commander," came the voice of the communications officer, immediately alerting Drake. "There's a large heat source to the right of where we are and there are nine additional ones in the same area."

"What is it?"

"Hold on," said the officer as he and the rest of the crew went to work on what they had just detected. "The large heat source is confirmed to be a ship, and two of the nine are mobile suits. The remaining seven are mobile armors."

"A ship, two mobile suits and seven mobile armors?" this got Drake's attention and he suddenly realized something. _Could it be the warship that le Creuset was talking about? This is too good to be true; now I'll get my chance at destroying it, that annoying Moebius Zero and the final machine._ He stood up and floated off. "Set a course for the warship and prepare the mobile suits! We must take them out now!"

"Aye, aye, Sir."

* * *

Onboard the _Archangel_, the radar was messing up. "N-Jammer levels increasing; we have trouble," reported Romero Pal.

_Damn, not now, _thought Murrue. "What are we dealing with?"

"It's a _Nazca_-class and it's heading this way," Chandra told the captain. "Just when things are going smoothly too."

Murrue clenched her fists, wondering if it was the same _Nazca_-class that they had been chased by during the silent run to the Artemis base, but she knew that there was no time to be thinking that and turned to face the rest of the crew.

"Inform the others at once, have the Mistrals return and commence Level-One Battle Stations! We need to be ready for anything it throws at us."

* * *

Once the _Brisco_ had the _Archangel_ in sight, it deployed five GINNs, three equipped with recoilless rifles and two with ion cannons, and a black ZGMF-515 CGUE. "You know what you have to do, take no prisoners and show no mercy," Drake informed his pilots. "Leave the Moebius Zero's pilot to me but do as you must with anything else."

"Understood, Sir" said the GINN pilots, before jetting off towards the _Archangel_ and meeting the Strike and Blue Destiny in combat.

Drake grinned when he detected the Moebius Zero not too far away. Acquiring a lock, he fired his assault rifle at the mobile armor. "Well Mu La Flaga, it's been a long time since we've crossed paths, and I see that you are now a pilot for the new warship. Am I right?"

Mu frowned as he activated the gunbarrels and had them fire at the black CGUE from all angles. The two had indeed battled each other once before, as Drake was part of the ZAFT armada that had captured Nova and transferred the base to the PLANT homeland where it was renamed Boaz.

"What are you doing here, Drake?" he asked the ZAFT commander as said enemy barely managed to avoid being hit by the shots the Zero was firing at him.

"This is the anniversary of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, La Flaga. Surely you should have known that there would be ZAFT forces coming here to pay their respects, but since you are here, consider this place your personal graveyard!"

With that, Drake performed a 300 degree turn to the left and managed to destroy one of the gunbarrels with his rifle, proving that he, like Rau Le Creuset, wasn't someone to be underestimated.

In the meantime, Kira was busy dealing with two of the enemy GINNs. He knew that unlike the bullets and the missiles, the ion cannon would do serious damage to the Strike. He targeted one of them with his beam rifle and once it was locked, he fired a well placed shot into the cockpit, killing the pilot and destroying the GINN. He then focused on the other GINN, using his shield to protect him from the ion beam it shot at him.

He took a glance at Marion, who had managed to destroy one of the recoilless rifle-equipped GINNs she was fighting against; she was showing the Drake Team that she was no pushover.

But wait, if they had been fighting against four GINNs at the start of battle, then where was the fifth unit?

He felt a presence and turned around to see the last GINN heading towards the _Archangel_, which was currently battling against the Drake Team's _Nazca_-class destroyer. He tried to pursue it, but was blocked by the ion cannon-equipped one.

The other GINN pilot grinned as he targeted the _Archangel_'s bridge with his recoilless rifle, and was about to fire when suddenly a shot went through his machine's torso. Everyone on the battlefield watched it explode, wondering where the shot had come from, until a new mobile suit appeared from a piece of debris.

"A GINN Long Range Recon Type?" asked one of the remaining GINN pilots in disbelief before seeing that it was white and had a shield in its left hand, and he froze at the sight of the symbol on the left shoulder.

It didn't take long for Drake to recognize who that unit belonged to either. "That's Anthony Russo's machine. What's it doing here?" he then noticed it firing at his black CGUE, forcing him to bring up his shield to take the shot. "Russo, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm doing what I have to do," came Anthony's voice before he fired at the CGUE once again. "Besides, there is no way that I'm going to help someone who is willing to commit genocide."

"What are you saying?"

"Patrick Zala wants to outright exterminate the Naturals!" yelled Anthony, using the GINN's shield to block a vertical slash from the enemy unit before kicking it away from him. "To think all of this was because of what happened to his wife."

Drake gritted his teeth and regained control of his machine. "Attention, surviving pilots! Anthony Russo is now our enemy; we must kill him before he fully sides with those worthless Naturals!"

The two remaining GINNs flew towards Anthony's LRRT and fired the recoilless rifle and ion cannon. The White Wolf countered by bringing his shield up to block the attacks before taking aim at one of them. He waited until one of the Drake Team units was in position and when the time came, he fired a well placed shot into the chest and destroyed it.

"You bastard!" snarled the last pilot as readied his cannon and fired at the wolf, only for his shield to protect him from the blast. Anthony fired back at the GINN, waited for it to attack again, and just as it was about to do so, took it down with his own weapon without any effort. However, it was nothing more than a diversion, as Drake brought out his heavy sword and charged at his enemy, ready to bisect the traitor with one swipe.

Fortunately, the attack never came, as a single slash from a pink colored beam went straight through the sword and forced the ZAFT commander back.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he came face to face with the Strike. The black CGUE fired its rifle, but the weapon had no effect on the Gundam thanks to its PSA. Drake was starting to know how Rau had felt when he went up against the machine at Heliopolis. The former businessman then noticed the Moebius Zero and the Blue Destiny approaching and knew that he alone wouldn't stand a chance against all three of them. "You haven't seen the last of me."

He turned his CGUE around and headed back towards the _Brisco_. "Good riddance," said Marion before turning her attention towards Anthony's GINN LRRT. Just then, he contacted the _Archangel_.

"Attention, Earth Alliance vessel, this is Anthony Russo and I come in peace. Please allow me to come aboard and explain why I am here."

The bridge crew wondered if this was a trick and they looked at Murrue, deep in thought about this. He had saved the _Archangel_ from being destroyed earlier, but where had she heard that name before?

"Very well, Lieutenant La Flaga and pilot Marion Welch will be escorting you to the ship so you don't get any ideas of double-crossing us."

Marion floated towards the white GINN with Mu so they could keep an eye on Anthony. Kira would have joined them, but he stopped when he detected something close by. He clipped his beam rifle onto the Strike's hip and headed to the area where he destroyed the other GINN LRRT earlier.

Eventually, he came across a life pod that was floating around not too far from the damaged _Silverwind_ and he sensed life inside of it. Without thinking, he went over to the pod and quickly retrieved it.

* * *

Hangar

* * *

Everyone gathered around the GINN LRRT and they knew that they had to be careful if this was a trap. Kira and his friends were also present, wondering who the pilot of the white machine was. The brown-haired Coordinator was also thinking about the person inside of the life pod he brought onboard. He had nearly gotten into another argument with Natarle over it until Murrue gave him permission to bring it in.

The cockpit hatch of the Long Range Recon Type opened, and exiting was a 20 year old male wearing a white ZAFT pilot suit, his helmet under his right arm, with brown hair and green eyes behind silver wire frame glasses. Everyone present was surprised as he floated down to the ground and approached them. The soldiers aimed their rifles at him just in case he got any bright ideas.

"I take it that you are the captain of this ship, am I right?" he asked Murrue with interest. She nodded her head before ordering the soldiers to stand down.

"I am Murrue Ramius and yes, I am the captain of this vessel." Suddenly, something hit her. "Aren't you the Artic White Wolf?"

Anthony remained completely silent and nodded his head to confirm. This shocked everyone, and Rena became furious. "You are the Artic White Wolf?!" she snapped while going over towards him. "Why the hell is a Space Monster like you…" she never got to finish as he grabbed her by the collar and pulled her face towards his.

"I'd advise you to watch what you say and for your information, the real space monster is Patrack Zala," he said in a serious tone, looking into the Sakura Burst's eyes. "Don't worry; I would never harm a woman as it is not in my nature to do so but just remember, there are people in the world who won't hesitate in killing you."

What he did next was a real shock, as both Murrue and Natarle gasped when Anthony kissed Rena's lips. After a few seconds, he broke the kiss and let her go. He then turned his attention towards Mu. "I never thought that the Hawk of Endymoin and the Sakura Burst would be onboard the same ship."

Mu didn't say anything to Anthony; it had been a year since the two lieutenants had crossed paths. Hell, it was the first time they had ever met in person. The last time they met, it was during the Battle of Endymion. He opened his mouth to say something when he and the others heard something opening.

The mechanics had managed to open the life pod and they suddenly saw a strange but cute pink orb floating towards the group, flapping its wings and saying "Haro, Haro!"

Anthony couldn't believe what he saw, if this pink Haro was inside the life pod, then he was sure that she would be in there as well.

Just as he thought, a teenaged girl with long pink hair and baby blue eyes exited the pod, surprising everyone. However, it didn't take long for Anthony to recognize her, as he was a former ZAFT commander.

"I never thought that you would be inside that life pod, Lacus."

A/Ns: Here is chapter 7 (chapter 8 if you count the Prologue) and I know that I should have updated Passionate Warrior first but I've been lacking the inspiration for that fic (but don't worry, I will try and update it soon) so I hope this will be alright.


	9. Phase 8: The Songstress of the Enemy

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Gundam Seed saga, but I do own my OCs. I'd like to thank Wingcommander WhiteWolf for letting me use Anthony and his Team as well as him putting my story in his favorites.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 8: The Songstress of the Enemy

By EmperorDraco7

Everyone looked at Anthony in disbelief when he said the girl's name; even Rena was completely shocked at that. "Did you just call this girl Lacus?" asked Murrue, to which the White Wolf nodded his head.

"Yes, her name is Lacus Clyne and she is the daughter of Supreme Chairman Siegel Clyne."

Meanwhile, Lacus had heard him speak, and her hand went to her face upon seeing him. "Commander Russo?" she gasped, not wanting to believe it as Kira caught her. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, Lacus," said Anthony, floating towards the pink-haired girl. "Although I have to say that we're onboard the Earth Alliance's new warship, the _Archangel_."

"Earth Alliance warship?" It suddenly hit her as she stared at everyone in the hangar and noticed that they weren't wearing ZAFT uniforms at all. The sight of the Earth Alliance symbol on Kira's uniform proved it. "Oh my… It's true."

"Yes, it is," came Murrue's voice, the captain joining with the two teens and the White Wolf. "I am Murrue Ramius, the captain of the _Archangel_. I'd like to speak with the two of you in my office if you don't mind."

"Understood," Anthony nodded before turning his attention towards Lacus and gesturing for her to join him. "It's alright, they won't bite."

Lacus remained silent for a moment and began thinking this through. After about 15 seconds she said "Very well, I should thank you for finding me."

* * *

_Brisco_, Bridge

* * *

"Dammit!" cursed Drake. He was furious that his operation against the _Archangel_ had failed due to Anthony's intervention. "Things were going completely well until that traitorous Russo came and ruined everything."

He then started coming up with many ways to make him suffer for choosing to fight for their enemy. Of course, he knew that he couldn't face off against the ship again alone without first getting more GINNs. Then again, if he wished to bring down the Strike, he would need a weapon that could penetrate its PS Armor. The next question was, where did the enemy get its second mobile suit and where did it come from?

His thoughts were soon broken by the voice of his communications officer. "Commander Drake, you are not going to believe what we just found."

"Oh for Christ sake." He got off of his seat and floated towards the officer. "Can't you see that I'm busy…" he never finished what he was about to say as something caught his eyes and they widened in shock. "Is that the _Silverwind_?"

"I'm afraid so," answered the officer, completely horrified at the damage the ship had suffered. "What happened to it?"

"I don't know, but right now I want a group of soldiers to join me in investigating it," ordered Drake before floating towards the door. "It is our mission to ensure that the people of our homeland, including Ms. Clyne, remain safe from our enemies and we need to see if there are survivors."

"Understood, Sir, and good luck."

The former businessman didn't respond and continued his path to the hangar, knowing that he now had to worry about Lacus' safety and how the Supreme Council would react to her not being found.

* * *

Back onboard the _Archangel_, Murrue sat at her desk with Natarle, Mu and Rena close behind her as they stared at both Anthony and Lacus. The Sakura Burst shot a hateful glance at the White Wolf, remembering the first time she and Mu had crossed paths with him at Endymion.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_Mu had his hands seriously full; he was dominating the field as he used his gunbarrels to take down as many of the attacking GINNs as he could. Of course, he knew that even he was vulnerable to damage in battle._

"_Oh no you don't!" he snarled, destroying another GINN that dared to attack him, and wondered how Rena was doing._

_Rena was having a more difficult time with the enemy as she was piloting a standard Moebius due to her not being a Newtype. However, even with an inferior unit, she was proving to be a threat to ZAFT._

"_Take that you, space monsters!"_

"_How are you holding up?" Mu's face came on the screen, his expression serious. "These guys just won't give up."_

"_Tell me about it" she frowned at the Hawk while she narrowly avoided being hit by fire from another mobile suit. "Damn them."_

_From range a white GINN Long Range Recon Type fired a shot, taking out two Moebiuses with a single round. He then saw a silver and blue Moebius approaching him. "That's the Sakura Burst!!" he realized. He leveled his rifle but couldn't fire on the woman. However she got a missile hit on his leg, blowing it off. "Dammit! Irwin, Linda, I got hit; I'm falling back! Where is the rest of the team?"_

_Linda was the first to answer. "Rau relocated them as rear guard; we've been ordered to fall back!"_

_"Dammit! I'll see you two back at the ship." he boosted off towards the Blood Fang. Rena would have gone after him but was prevented from doing so by two attacking GINNs. Cursing, she took one last glance at the LRRT before concentrating on the foes that were in her way_

_End of Flashback_

* * *

She couldn't believe that Anthony was right there in front of her, and she couldn't get the thought of him kissing her in the hangar earlier out of her head. What did he mean he would never harm a woman? This was a war and soldiers, be they man or a woman, fought and died in battle.

Lacus, on the other hand, had a serious look on her face, which looked out of place for the normally cheerful girl, as she stared at the senior officers and wondered what they wanted to talk to her about, despite the chattering that her pink Haro was doing.

"So, Ms. Clyne… What is someone like you doing all the way here?" Murrue began to speak in a gentle tone. "Also, what happened to cause you to end up in the lifepod?"

The songstress remained silent for a few minutes, not breaking eye contact with the captain for any reason.

"If you people really want to know, the anniversary for the Bloody Valentine Tragedy takes place 11 days from now and I had come to the debris belt onboard the civilian vessel _Silverwind_ in order to prepare for the ceremony," she started explaining to the officers, her serious expression remaining completely the same. "When we arrived, we encountered another Earth Alliance ship and they demanded that they do an inspection of the _Silverwind_ upon finding out that we were from the PLANTs."

"What?!" this shocked Mu the most out of all of the older people in the room. "Did you just say an inspection?"

"That's right, and since we saw no harm in that we decided to let them do so." Lacus soon lowered her head with a hint of sadness. "However, as soon as they came onboard, a small argument took place, and then things got out of hand and eventually the Alliance members thought that we were an enemy ship. Then some of the crew shoved me and Mr. Pink into the lifepod before I knew what was going on."

Anthony looked at the girl, feeling bad. _She is not going to like what I have to say but she has the right to know,_ he thought with a small sigh. "Lacus… I'm afraid I have some bad news. When my team and I discovered the _Silverwind_, it was severely damaged. It looks like you are the only survivor."

"Oh my…." She gasped in horror. "Is this true?"

Anthony nodded grimly. "I'm afraid so."

"Wait a minute!" Rena suddenly interrupted, catching the attention of her allies and the White Wolf. "What do you mean you and your team? You're not the only one here?!"

"That's right. The _Blizzard Prowler_, one of the two _Nazca_-class destroyers under my command, is right here in the debris belt and will be joining us when we leave. You'll know it by the white color that it has." He then turned his attention towards the others. "You guys left one hell of a mess for us to clean up at Artemis."

"How do you know about us and how did you know about what happened at Artemis?" Murrue asked the White Wolf curiously. "There was no way you could have been there, as there was only the enemy _Laurasia_-class present."

"I have a Drone on my LRRT" he replied. "I was watching everything that took place outside of the base."

"What?!" Rena couldn't believe what she'd heard and glared at him. "How can you have a drone inside your GINN LRRT?"

"A ZAFT ace has the option to modify their machine as they see fit. I'm a sniper; you know that." Anthony answered, not once losing his patience.

Rena continued to stare at Anthony and opened her mouth to say something when Natarle interrupted. "You know that as long as you are onboard this vessel we will be keeping our eyes on you to make sure that you don't double-cross us."

"No need." he pulled a burned ZAFT uniform patch and places it on top of Murrue's desk. "Besides, I'm a deserter, as is my entire team, which includes the _Prowler_, my second _Nazca_-class destroyer the _Blood Fang_ and seven other GINNs."

Natarle, Rena, Mu and Murrue all remained silent while Lacus looked at Anthony, wondering what he was talking about. After several minutes passed, the Hawk was the first to speak. "I wonder, what made you fight against Drake earlier? He's a member of the ZAFT military, one of your own allies."

A cross look came over the Wolf's features. "We just learned that Patrick Zala plans to exterminate all Naturals, including the ones who reside the PLANTs."

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this; even Lacus couldn't believe it or the fact that the Drake Team was present as well. "Is this all true?" asked the captain of the ship.

"Yes, it is. Zala was the main reason why my team and I have chosen to fight against ZAFT rather than help him commit genocide."

"About the _Blood Fang_," Mu decided to change the subject. "Where is it now?"

"It's currently at Artemis; my father is helping the others clean the place up so we can use it as a base. It would be out of ZAFT hands at least."

Murrue sighed in relief upon hearing that, before Anthony continued. "And just for the record, if you want to keep an eye on me why don't you just assign me quarters with a roommate?"

"Very well, Rena I think you should escort Mr. Russo to your quarters" said Murrue. "I think it would be a good idea if you keep an eye on him." This shocked Rena.

"What did you say? Me keep an eye on that Coordinator?"

Anthony just rolled his eyes, "I'm technically a Natural by Coordinator standards."

"That's impossible, since this war began only Coordinators are capable of piloting Mobile Suits and Ms. Sakura Burst says that she is the only Natural here with training on operating one" Mu pointed to Rena who huffed.

"My mother is a Coordinator, and my father is a Natural. I'm half and half" explained Anthony, surprising everyone in an instant. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"I'm sorry," admitted Murrue, shaking her surprise out of her system. "We never thought that it was possible for there to be a half-breed."

"Need you remind me?" Anthony chuckled, "After all, my father is the captain of the _Blood Fang_." He then turned his attention towards Lacus. "Oh yeah, your boyfriend is in the belt as well. I saw his unit not far from here."

"My boyfriend?"

"Sasuke."

The news surprised Lacus. Was Sasuke this worried about her? Then again, he had to be seeing as they were really close friends after all but they had feelings for each other and if it weren't for Sasuke revealing how he felt for her after the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, the two of them wouldn't have started dating. "I see," she spoke in a soft tone. "I hope he's alright."

"Don't worry," reassured Anthony. "I'm very sure that he can take care of himself. Besides, you're the daughter of Chairman Clyne, he won't let anything bad happen to you." he faced Mu and Rena, his features turning serious. "This is the first time that I've actually seen you two outside of your Mobile Armors."

The blonde-haired lieutenant nodded. "To be honest, I'd been wondering who piloted the GINN Long Range Recon Type that Rena managed to damage, and I never expected to see you helping us just now, but tell me, where is your co-pilot?"

"Huh? I actually don't have one; none of the other pilots could keep up with me at all."

The Hawk stared at him. "You don't have a co-pilot at all?"

"No and I often get tired of seeing the pilot seat in front of me empty. The others are good on their own, but they can't handle being a co-pilot as they're a bit slow," replied the White Wolf before looking at Murrue. "I do wonder though, do you have any pilots who are capable of keeping up?"

"That depends if you want the pilot to be a Natural or a Coordinator," said Murrue with a sly smile. "However, I'm sure that Rena is currently available."

"Huh?"

"That's if she agrees. I don't care about gene differences," Anthony said honestly. "I personally think that anyone can pilot a mobile suit."

"No way in Hell, Captain!" shouted Rena, slamming her hands onto the desk after hearing her friend's second decision. "I'm not co-piloting that GINN with him!"

"You don't have a choice; this is your chance to pilot something," stated the captain. "Besides, don't you want to actually get back at the ZAFT forces that killed your students?"

Anthony shot Rena a look, "Was it the Le Creuset team?"

"Huh?" the Hawk looked at him with a serious expression as the Sakura Burst nodded. "You know him?"

"I hold him responsible for Endymion; I lost two of my own there," he muttered, pulling his arm out of his uniform coat, exposing the healing scar from a gunshot. "He also gave me this!"

"Oh my God…" Natarle stared in complete shock at the sight of the scar while Rena's face remained the same. Rena wondered, though, why someone in the ZAFT military had actually given him that. "Did he really do that?"

"Yes, he did" he answered before putting the arm back into his jacket. "If you let me, I'll help you bring that bastard down."

Mu looked into his eyes, knowing that he was indeed telling the truth. "Thanks, we can use all the help we can get, especially against someone like Le Creuset."

Anthony nodded. "The _Blood Fang_ and the _Prowler_ are with you, and Artemis when it's finished will be open to you."

"Mu, I'd like you to take Ms. Clyne to her room and be sure to remember that as long as she is onboard she is considered our guest," Murrue told the Hawk, who nodded before leading Lacus out of the office. The captain noticed a smile forming on the songstress's face upon hearing that. "Rena will escort you to your quarters now," she turned her attention towards the Sakura Burst. "Well, Rena?"

Anthony stood up, placing his ZAFT issue cap, now bare of any identifying mark, under his arm. Rena didn't say a word and eventually she sighed in defeat before leading him out of the office.

* * *

Debris Belt

* * *

Kira was on high alert; he wanted to make sure that the crew would get enough of the supplies so that the _Archangel_ would finally leave the remains of Junius Seven behind them. Although they had managed to defeat the Drake Team, it would only be a matter of time before he decided to attack them again.

Then he thought about the GINN Long Range Recon Type he had destroyed earlier. The fact that he'd had to kill two people to save the girl that he cared about caused his hands to start shaking.

_When will this damn war end?_ he wondered while checking around to make sure that there wouldn't be any more ZAFT forces around to discover their location. He lowered his beam rifle and turned to leave but soon felt something close.

"Huh?"

He headed to the right to find out what it was; he was praying that it wasn't going to be another ZAFT pilot to take down, as he really wished to return to the ship. Not that there would be any more in the area, but better to be safe than sorry. Stopping in his tracks, he then went to down to a piece of the destroyed colony and his eyes widened at what he saw in front of him.

It was a strange pod that looked small enough to be attached to a mobile suit or a mobile armor if necessary, yet for some reason, Kira had some strange connection to it. With curiosity getting the better of him, he floated closer to the pod in order to examine it properly. However, as soon as he was close enough he saw something flash before his eyes.

_A white mobile suit with a single beam saber and several pods on it back, a beam rifle in its right hand and a shield on its left forearm, prepared itself as the pilot in the cockpit knew that he might not survive the battle he was about to participate in._

"_If I have to die then so be it, it ends right here and right now," said the pilot before closing his eyes and remembering his friends and allies. "Amuro Ray, Nu Gundam heading out!"_

_The mobile suit known as the Nu Gundam launched itself out of the hangar it was in and into the depths of space, entering battle._

Kira flinched, moving away from it and returning to reality.

"What the hell was that?" he asked himself, shocked at what he had experienced. Just what was that mobile suit and why did it look so familiar to him? He took another glance at the pod and floated towards it once again. Without thinking, he placed the beam rifle onto the Strike's hip and grabbed hold of it before turning around and making his way back to the _Archangel_.

* * *

"What did you just say?" asked Sasuke. He couldn't believe what he was hearing as he stared at the face of Commander Hannah Yun herself. "What do you mean that you lost the signal from Seto's GINN?"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. He hasn't returned to the ship and we haven't heard from him since he told us that he found the _Silverwind._" She paused for a moment and closed her eyes, knowing that he wasn't going to like what she had to say next. "He said that it was completely totaled, and he had searched the ship to see if he could find any survivors. Unfortunately, all he found were lifeless bodies and no signs of Lacus."

He felt something sharp piercing his heart, his hands clenched on his controls and tears starting to leak from his eyes. _Seto…. He can't be gone…. He just can't!_ he thought, forced to accept the fact that he had lost another member of his family.

"Sasuke…" said a voice that caused him to look up, Rin's face was now on the second screen and she was sniffling as she too learned about Seto's death. "This isn't fair, he shouldn't have been killed and…"

"I know, Rin," interrupted Sasuke, looking down at his controls before he realized something and looked up. "Wait a minute; didn't Commander Yun say that Seto never found Lacus onboard the _Silverwind_?"

"Yes, she did but what does that have to do with Seto's death?"

"Think about it, if Lacus wasn't on the _Silverwind_ then she must have escaped before whoever attacked the ship could finish the job!" He snapped his fingers at that thought, as he knew that his girlfriend wasn't stupid. "I'll check the area that Seto was last seen and see if I can find her."

Rin watched the CGUE take off, starting to feel worried about him as she flew back to the _Kenshi,_ knowing that the others had already returned there. "Be careful…. I really don't want to explain to Jason, Miyuki, Mom, Commander Yun, Kaguya and Aunt Saria about the both of you being killed."

Sasuke was focused on heading to where the _Silverwind_ had been found, hoping that he would find traces of a lifepod in the area. He gripped the controls tightly as his expression darkened. He knew that if he were to be attacked, he would be ready, and he would make whoever had killed his brother suffer.

However, as soon as he arrived, he hid behind a piece of debris, noticing a _Nazca_-class destroyer not to far from the damaged civilian vessel. He then saw a black CGUE connecting cables onto both ships and immediately knew who that ship belonged to.

"The Drake Team," he said with disgust, watching as Drake continued in attaching cables, realizing that he planned on taking the _Silverwind_ back to the PLANTs to show everyone and probably help Patrick Zala with getting the people to see that the Naturals could not be trusted.

Shuddering, Sasuke often wondered what Chairman Siegel Clyne saw in someone like Zala, especially when he showed a deep hate towards Naturals, especially the ones who resided within the homeland. He then started typing, hoping to tell Hannah what he is doing.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Yun-Law Team commander was having her own discussion, but with Chairman Zala himself. "What do you mean your Long Range Recon Type hasn't returned?!"

"We've lost the signal from Seto's unit and we don't know what happened," answered Hannah, starring into the chairman's eyes. "We've just reported him and his co-pilot as MIA and we're on high alert for any pirates."

"Pirates are the least of your problems, Commander. Right now there are other things to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Hannah raised an eyebrow, wondering what Zala was talking about when he said other things to worry about. "Is there something you wish to tell me?"

"Indeed I do" he said seriously. "It seems the Earth Alliance had developed five prototype mobile suits and a warship within the Orb Union colony Heliopolis. The Le Creuset Team managed to capture four of them, but was pushed back by the fifth one and by the ship itself."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Of course it's dangerous, that's why I'm telling you right now and if you ever find it, the wise thing to do is to call for reinforcements and equip your CGUE with the Assault Shroud as alone you would fall to it."

Hannah thought about it for a moment and realized that if the remaining unit and the enemy ship had managed to push back the Le Creuset Team, then they were considered to be a threat to any ZAFT forces in space.

"I'll keep that in mind, Chairman Zala," she sighed before hearing one of the crew calling her name.

"Commander Yun, we've received a message from pilot Sasuke Blaze."

"Sorry, I have to cut this conversation short," she said before the screen turned black and she went over to see what the message said. "What's this?"

'_Commander, I've found the Silverwind but the Drake Team has beaten me to it and is preparing to take it back to the PLANTs.'_

"Just great," she had a hand on her forehead, annoyed that Drake was also at the debris belt. Between him and Commander Rau Le Creuset himself, she didn't know who was worse. "Contact Sasuke; have him return to the ship. We need to get ready if we ever encounter the Earth Alliance's new warship."

"Yes ma'am."

She then returned to her seat, a lot of things on her mind. Why had Orb let the Earth Alliance create those mobile suits and ships, and how did the people of the PLANTs, as well as the rest of the Supreme Council, feel about their existence? She hoped that there would be a way to bring that ship down along with the last machine it currently had.

"Huh?" one of the crewmen suddenly noticed something on the radar. "Ma'am, we've detected a ship not too far away."

"A ship not too far from us?" Hannah asked him in surprise. "Is it the warship that Chairman Zala was talking about?"

"Negative, it's one of our own ships. A _Nazca_-class to be precise," he replied, trying to figure out who it belonged to. "It's the _Blizzard Prowler_."

This made her even more surprised than ever, as she knew that the _Prowler_ belonged to none other than Anthony himself. So if it was in the debris belt as well, then the White Wolf himself wouldn't be far behind.

"Does it know we're here?" she asked.

"No, but there is a chance that the Drake Team doesn't know about its presence either."

"I see," said Hannah with a small frown. "We'd better keep an eye on it just to be sure, and we should avoid detection from it as well. Besides, last I heard it and the _Blood Fang_ had disappeared without a trace, so we should keep this to ourselves for now."

"Understood," said the crewman, wondering what she was thinking by issuing this order and why the White Wolves were at the debris belt. The commander herself had similar thoughts, as she had come to respect Anthony over the years they had known each other.

* * *

_Archangel_, Rena's quarters

* * *

Rena stood next to the open door and watched as Anthony took off his uniform jacket and laid it and his cap on her bed before letting out a small sigh. "This has got to be a joke; I never joined this ship to share a room with someone who said he left ZAFT."

"Are you alright?" he took note of the expression on her face and knew that something was up. "You don't seem very happy."

"Of course I'm not happy!" she snapped at him. "Who would want to have a ZAFT pilot in your room? Oh, wait… this is Murrue's suggestion and I'm really mad at her for that."

She then crossed her arms and huffed before looking away from him, even though he did look kind of cute up close. _Dammit, snap out of it. He's the White Wolf and there is a chance that he could betray the ship and turn it and the mobile suits over to ZAFT,_ she thought to herself before the kiss flashed before her eyes and she shook her head to try and get it out.

"You don't like me do you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Rena, still not looking at the White Wolf at all despite his heroic battle before. Before she could say anything else, he spoke.

"That's sad, because I really like you."

This made her open her eyes in complete surprise and she then turned her head towards him. "What did you just say?"

"I said that I really like you" said Anthony with a smile on his face. "Is there a problem with that?"

The Sakura Burst felt her knees become a bit weaker as she stared into his eyes, not knowing what to say about it, but she mentally slapped herself and looked away from him once again. Although, she did think that if he had truly defected from ZAFT, then maybe…. She stopped herself from finishing that thought and remembered that he was not to be trusted, as he could have been lying about being a half-breed and that he was a Coordinator as they were the only ones capable of piloting mobile suits.

"Listen, if you're trying to flatter me, save it because I'm not falling for any of your tricks at all."

Anthony sighed, "You don't believe a word I said do you? Well how about this, you are my co-pilot, and for your information, Rena, my father is Captain David Victor Russo, a Natural and a native of the British Isles. My mother was Marie Yukari, a first generation Coordinator born in the PLANTs." his voice was calm and even, it didn't even hint that he was insulted. "I myself was a failed experiment of a project that my mother was a part of, so by all means and definitions I am a freak, so I don't care if you call me a half-blood, a monster or a freak; I don't give a damn. I've heard all the insults."

Rena gasped at that and looked at him once more. _Those words can't be true… Can they?_ she thought, finding herself conflicted and unsure how to respond to that.

"Tell me, have you ever piloted a mobile suit before?"

She was caught off guard by this question and she found herself looking into his eyes without thinking. "What kind of question is that?" she asked. "You should know that I've never been in a mobile suit's cockpit and I was originally going to pilot the Strike after my students were killed by the ZAFT forces at Heliopolis, incomplete or rewritten OS be damned, until Kira Yamato decided to operate it."

"The students of yours, were they killed by a certain Rau Le Creuset himself?" he asked her, causing her to gasp again. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Hold on!" She walked over to him in disbelief. "How do you know that they were killed by Le Creuset? Was your drone watching the events that took place at the colony?!"

The White Wolf simply shook his head. "No, I just know because only he would be willing to attack a colony belonging to Orb. Also, the _Gamow's_ IFF code was obvious, as I was still in ZAFT when Rau received it and the _Vesalius_."

"Just great." Rena placed a hand on her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of the G-Weapons being used by ZAFT against the Earth Alliance themselves. "Hopefully, when we reach Lunar Headquarters we'll know what to do about the situation."

"You really think that, do you?" questioned Anthony, standing back up and walking towards the door. "If you need me, I'll be at the hangar doing some work on my GINN's OS, but first I'm going to get something to eat at the cafeteria."

Rena watched as he left. She sighed with relief that this conversation was done, but for some reason she felt a bit upset at that happening. "What's wrong with me?" she asked herself before deciding to head to the bridge since she had nothing better to do.

* * *

At the hangar, Mu looked around and wondered where Murdoch was. He wanted to talk to him about something important and he didn't want to wait. "Hey, Murdoch!" he called out, hoping that he would hear him.

"I'm right here, Lieutenant La Flaga!" he heard the Chief Petty Officer's voice from the far left and turned in that direction. "Take a look at what the kid found," he pointed to the pod that Kira had brought onboard the ship, which was surrounded by a group of technicians.

"What is that?"

"I don't know." Murdoch shook his head, frowning as he looked at it. "This kid has a real knack for bringing things onto the ship."

Mu simply nodded before remembering something. "Listen, I need your help with something important."

"Sure," said Murdoch. "What do you want?"

"I've been thinking about when we've tangled with the Le Creuset Team, and since they have four of our machines, I doubt that the Strike and the Blue Destiny can deal with all of them at the same time." The Hawk placed two fingers on his chin, deep in thought. "I want the gunbarrels on my Zero to be modified. That way, if we ever do battle against them again we'll be ready for them."

"What?! That's crazy; something like this has never been done before!" Murdoch was shocked at his request and his eyes hardened. "Besides, where are we going to get the parts for it?!"

"We have spare beam rifles for the Strike; we could take them apart and use the pieces we need for the Zero's modification."

"I don't know, Lieutenant…." The Chief began scratching the back of his head, still not believing it would work. "What if…."

"Hey, it's crazy but it's the only option we have right now."

Murdoch thought for a moment, and then he let out a small sigh. "Very well, although I still don't like this."

"Thanks," said Mu before heading towards his Moebius Zero, Murdoch following with a group of technicians accompanying him.

* * *

Bridge

* * *

The _Archangel_ was finally exiting the debris belt and the crew was relieved that they had collected the supplies that they needed. However, Murrue knew that they had to be careful after their encounter with the Drake Team, and the fact that they had Chairman Clyne's daughter onboard was making things even more difficult.

Then there was the matter of the ship also having a former ZAFT ace onboard and what was going to happen to him when they made it to Lunar Headquarters. She started wondering how High Command was going to react to this and if they would listen to their story about what had happened to them.

However, just as it was leaving the debris field, a white _Nazca_-class destroyer appeared from it. "Captain," Pal spoke up, alerting Murrue and the others. "We've just picked up a large heat source."

"What is it?" she asked, snapping out of her train of thought.

"Hold on," he worked on the controls and frowned when he got his results. "It's a _Nazca_-class destroyer."

"Are you sure about that?" questioned Natarle, standing up in disbelief. "We better be ready just in case it tries to attack us."

"Hold on, let's take a closer look," said the captain, wanting to know what the _Nazca_-class looked like. The vessel was white and had a bloodied white wolf as a logo on the side of its hull, signifying that it was none other than the _Blizzard Prowler_, one of the ships under Anthony's command. "This must be the ship that we were told about."

"Huh?" the crew looked at her in surprise when she said that, wondering what she was talking about. "Contact it at once."

Everyone in the bridge couldn't believe this, but they didn't dare question her and proceeded with opening a channel between the _Archangel_ and the _Prowler_.

"Attention captain of the _Nazca_-class, this is Captain Murrue Ramius of the _Archangel_. If you are listening please respond at once."

The image of a middle aged red-headed woman in a black ZAFT captain uniform appeared on screen. "This is Captain Maria Allster of the independent warship _Blizzard Prowler_. It's good to hear from you, _Archangel_."

Murrue and Natarle's eyes widened, both women in shock upon hearing the name. "What did you just say?" the captain asked her. "Your name is Maria Allster?"

The woman on the screen nodded her head to confirm. "If you're name is Allster, then that means…" Natarle didn't finish what she was about to say, knowing that it would be more shocking if she did.

"Tell me, are you related to one of the civilians?" asked Murrue. "Flay Allster to be precise."

When Murrue mentioned the name of the red-haired girl onboard the _Archangel_, a light smile appeared on the other woman's face. "Yes, I'm her mother."

"YOU'RE HER MOTHER?!" exclaimed Natarle, not wanting to believe this revelation. Even the bridge crew was shocked by it. "That's impossible, how in the…"

"It's a long story," Maria smiled sheepishly before turning her attention to the _Archangel_'s captain. "So, is Flay really onboard your vessel?"

"Yes, she is," replied Murrue, nodding her head. "She and the other refugees were inside a broken lifeboat that had ejected from Heliopolis before the colony's destruction, and the pilot of our remaining G-Weapon brought it in."

"So you have innocent civilians on board?" Maria asked.

"Yes, along with one Lacus Clyne."

"So you found her, huh? Thank God." She sighed in relief. "We would be more than happy to be you escort, Captain."

"Thank you," said Murrue with her eyes closed. "You know, if you want you may come onboard to see your daughter."

"Really?! Thank you so much!" shouted Maria in an excited, almost giddy, tone as she got off of her chair. "It would be wonderful to be with my child again after so long. I'll be there ASAP." the screen went blank and Murrue knew that Flay would definitely be happy to see her mother again.

Little did they know, the _Kenshi_ had followed the _Prowler_ to the meeting point and everyone in the bridge was shocked at the sight of the two ships together. "What kind of ship is that?" asked Natsume in shock at the sight of the _Archangel_.

Hannah frowned and turned her attention to the captain. "I'm not sure, but I sure wouldn't want to deal with it and the _Prowler_ right now, even if the latter was once our ally."

"Do you think that the ship with the _Prowler_ is the one Chairman Zala was warning us about?"

"I don't know, but it is a high possibility," said Hannah. "Best avoid detection and stay close to them, have our pilots launch if we're spotted."

Natsume didn't like the sound of this but nodded. "Understood."

* * *

_Archangel_, Hallway

* * *

Kira was making his way to the cafeteria. He had been thinking about how the others were doing and he wanted to check on them. He wondered about the flashback he had experienced back in space, as well as the pod he had found and the strange connection he had to it.

He was so deep in thought, he nearly bumped into Cagalli. "Sorry about that," he said, bowing briefly. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you," she replied with a shrug. "Besides, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"It's about you piloting one of those machines." Her eyes hardened as she mentioned the mobile suit that Kira had no choice but to pilot. "Do you really think that you would be onboard this ship if you hadn't followed me and tried to take me to that shelter?"

The brown-haired Coordinator thought about it for a moment, knowing that he really didn't want to pilot the Strike any longer. "Look, I know that you aren't happy with me in the Strike. However, as long as my friends and the rest of the refugees are here, there's really nothing I can do." Then he remembered something. "Wait, back at Heliopolis, you said that your father betrayed us all. What did you mean by that?"

This caught Cagalli completely off guard and she looked away from him without saying a single word. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"Listen; promise that you won't tell anyone. If you do, I'm going to kick your ass, got it?"

Kira nodded his head and the blonde-haired girl sighed. "I'm the daughter of Orb's Chief Representative, Lord Uzumi Nara Attha. He's the head of one of the five noble families that control all of Orb." This caused him to gasp in shock.

"You're a princess?"

"Yes, is that a problem?" she asked him, her tone serious. He responded by shaking his head and looking into her eyes. "Good. Anyway, I heard rumors that Morgenroete was creating new mobile suits for the Earth Alliance and I went to Heliopolis to find out if they were true. You know the rest."

"I see…" Kira looked away from her for a second. "You must have assumed that your father was behind the development and I felt how upset you were after the battle with the three GINNs."

"How could he do this? Doesn't he understand what's going to happen now that the Alliance has the knowledge needed to create mobile suits?"

"Uzumi had no idea, Cagalli," interrupted a voice from behind Kira. The two teens turned around to see Anthony joining them. "I thought you of all people should know that."

"I know you; you're the pilot of that GINN Long Range Recon Type that came onboard this ship!" she exclaimed. "Who are you and what the hell do you mean that my father had no idea?! Also, how do you know my father at all?!"

Anthony rubbed his ears, "Would you not shout at me, I have sensitive hearing," he hissed at the loud blond girl, "To answer question one: My name is Anthony Russo, the White Wolf. Second question: He had no idea about the G-Weapons that piss ant Rondo Ghina Sahaku was creating for the Earth Alliance. As for the last question: your father requested my assistance to secure those machines for him after I confirmed their existence. I managed to confirm their existence with the help of Rondo Mina Sahaku."

This news completely floored both teens. "What did you just say?" asked Cagalli, still shocked at what she had heard.

"Rondo Ghina Sahaku was the one who helped the Earth Alliance in creating the G-Weapons and your father wanted my assistance to secure them for him after I confirmed their existence with Rondo Mina Sahaku's help."

The blonde-haired girl stood there, she was almost speechless at what he had just told her. All she could do was stare at him with her mouth wide open, but after a while she finally spoke. "Are you telling me the truth?"

"Yes, I am. Unfortunately, the Le Creuset Team has possession of four of the units and the last one is here on the _Archangel,_" answered Anthony as he nodded his head with a frown. "That's not all; Ghina had Morgenroete steal the data on the machines to create mobile suits of his own. The four machines were codenamed MBF-P01 Astray Gold Frame, MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame, MBF-P03 Astray Blue Frame and MBF-P04 Astray Green Frame."

Cagalli's eyes widened in disbelief. "He did that as well?"

"My team and I only managed to recover the Green Frame intact after Heliopolis was destroyed and we brought it onboard the _Kusanagi_ so that Uzumi could protect it." The White Wolf nodded. "Mina had told me that she had the Astray Gold Frame in her hands; she wants to keep it away from her devious brother. I'm not sure what has become of the Red Frame and the Blue Frame."

"Commander Russo," interrupted Kira, approaching him with a serious expression. "If Lord Attha knows about the machines, does he know that Cagalli is onboard?"

"I'm afraid not. However, he did order for mobile suits that would counter both the Earth Alliance's units and the Astray mobile suits that Ghina made. Last I heard, one was being created in a hidden hangar but was never finished when the colony was attacked."

"A mobile suit that was being made in a hidden hangar?!" exclaimed Kira.

"Is there a problem?"

"Well…. I found an incomplete mobile suit in space not too long ago and it came with two trailers that had Striker packs." The younger pilot said, remembering the unit that the technicians had been working on since before the _Archangel_'s trek to Artemis. "Is that the one you were talking about?"

"That's the one." Anthony snapped his fingers and looked at the two. "I think Uzumi would be happy to hear that the unit is safe and sound, even if it is in the hands of an Earth Alliance warship."

"I can't believe this. All this time my father had no intention of betraying the homeland," said Cagalli, looking at the ground and starting to feel upset. "Ever since I saw two of the G-Weapons at Heliopolis I thought…."

"Don't worry about it. Hey, think of it this way: you get to blame Ghina and not your father."

She remained silent for a moment, taking some time to accept what Anthony had told her before looking up at him with a darkened expression on her face. "Where is he now?"

"Ghina? Who knows?" Anthony shrugged and his eyes darkened. "I hope the psycho is dead. Plus, Mina and I are on friendly terms."

"When did the two of you meet?" she asked him seriously as Kira nodded, also wanting to know.

"A few days after the Wolves and I went rogue; she let us stay at their station."

"I see." She thought about it for a moment and then remembered something. "I bet that she was also the one who gave you the shield your GINN Long Range Recon Type has."

"She gave all our GINNs shields and my LRRT its drone." He then heard his stomach growling. "I'd better get to the cafeteria; I haven't eaten since I left the _Blizzard Prowler_."

"The _Blizzard Prowler_?" both teens asked him in surprise.

"It's one of the _Nazca_-class destroyers under my command; the other is my personal flagship, the _Blood Fang_. Care to show me where your cafeteria is?"

"Sure, I'll take you there. Besides, I should thank you for saving the _Archangel_," smiled Kira before leading the White Wolf through the halls, leaving Cagalli standing there for a bit, thinking about her father before she decided to come along.

* * *

At the cafeteria, Flay and Milly were having a conversation. "You actually met Kira's parents? No way!"

"It's true and they were really nice! So was his younger sister Aya," replied Flay, nodding her head with a smile before looking at the table the Yamatos were sitting at. "If only I had met them at Heliopolis, then maybe…."

"Maybe what?" Milly had a sly smile on her face, leaning closer. "Are you starting to like Kira?"

"What do you mean?" asked Flay, blushing slightly. "Kira's considered me his friend but that doesn't mean that I like, _like_ him."

"Right, sure it doesn't," giggled Milly.

The red-haired girl shook off the blush and stared straight at her friend with a serious expression. "Look, it's not like you and Tolle, Kira and I are just friends, nothing more."

"If you say so," said Milly, trying her best not to laugh before deciding to change the subject. "How do you feel about Lacus Clyne being onboard the ship?"

"Well I…" the younger girl lowered her head, remembering when the lifepod that Kira brought onto the _Archangel_ opened and first revealed the Songstress. "I'm not really sure, ever since I was here, I don't know what to believe anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember how shocked I was when I found out that Kira was a Coordinator? I should have told you that I hated them all with a passion and I didn't care if they were civilians or in ZAFT," explained Flay, breathing in and saying what was in her heart. "If it wasn't for what happened at Artemis and our stop at the debris belt, I would still have been the person I was."

Milly looked at her friend with a hint of concern, she had never actually opened up to her before and she was becoming worried. "Flay… I…" she never got to finish what she was about to say as the door slid open and entering was none other than Lacus and her pink Haro.

"Hello," she said, bowing down briefly to the two girls before approaching them and noticing that Flay had her head down. "Is there something wrong?"

"Huh?" Flay raised her head and saw that Lacus was close to them. "No… Nothing's wrong," she replied while looking at the pink-haired girl. She looked normal, just like Kira and Aya. "What are you doing here?"

"Since I was a guest, I figured that I would look around the ship, although I know that the bridge and the hangar are forbidden unless I'm with one of the crew," smiled the songstress before picking up her Haro. "And Mr. Pink really wanted to get out of our room."

Milly looked at the pink orb. "Does it bite?"

"Of course not; he wouldn't hurt a fly."

Both Flay and Milly turned to each other before placing a hand on Mr. Pink. To their surprise, it really liked it. "So, who made it?" Flay was the first to ask. "It looks kinda cute to be honest."

"Athrun Zala did," answered Lacus. "I have many others back at my home in Aprilius One."

"Are you serious?!" Both girls exclaimed in shock at the same time. Lacus replied by nodding her head.

"Wow…. " said Flay, almost speechless at this revelation. "I wonder though, what is it like to live in the PLANTs?"

"Well, life there is the same as it is on Earth and we live the same way everyone else does…" Lacus began to explain about how things went in her homeland, not leaving out anything. "Although, when the Bloody Valentine Tragedy took place, my father told me that the council was furious over the people who died in Junius Seven's destruction."

"I see," the other girl frowned. She still felt bad for what she had seen at the debris belt and she really wished that she could do something. "Does your father know about you being here?"

"If it's about me going to the debris belt, then yes. Me being onboard the _Archangel_ is another story." Lacus was saddened at the thought of her father worrying about her. "I wonder if this war will ever end."

"We know how you feel," Milly started speaking. "We ended up here after a ZAFT team attacked Heliopolis, and we've been doing our best to help the crew with their conflicts."

"Lieutenant La Flaga told me about what took place before you came to the debris belt and found me," admitted Lacus. "I never thought that it would end up this way."

Just then, Anthony, Kira and Cagalli entered the cafeteria. However, not too far from them, Kira's parents saw their son and were shocked upon seeing the blonde-haired girl with him.

"Mama, Papa, are you two okay?" Aya looked a bit worried about them and gently shook their arms, snapping them back to reality. They didn't respond to their daughter as they continued to stare at Kira and Cagalli together, truly not wanting to believe that they had just met.

"Lacus, what are you doing out of your room?" the White Wolf asked her in surprise.

"Sorry, Commander Russo. Mr. Pink really wanted to get out and I have wanted to get to know more about this ship," she said before noticing Kira and walking towards him with a hint of curiosity. "You're the one who found my lifepod, aren't you?"

Kira nodded his head. "Yes, I was."

"I should thank you. If you hadn't found me, I would have died in space." She bowed down to him. "May I ask for your name?"

"My name's Kira…. Kira Yamato."

Lacus gasped. She was shocked when she heard that name and soon realized where she had heard it before. "You're Athrun's friend from Copernicus city?"

"Yes; how do you know?"

"Athrun told me about you. I never thought that I'd have the chance to meet you face to face," said Lacus, still a bit shocked. "He never stopped thinking about you and he had hoped to see you again."

"I see," he sighed, thoughts about his best friend rushing about in his mind. He knew that if they reached EA Lunar Headquarter, he wouldn't have to worry about fighting against him again. "Wait a minute…." He realized something. "You know Athrun?"

"Of course I know him, Mr. Yamato," she replied with a gentle smile. "He's a very close friend of mine, we met when we were children."

"You and Athrun are childhood friends?" He was surprised at her for even saying that. She responded by nodding her head. "You know, you don't have to call me Mr. Yamato; Kira is fine."

"Alright…. Kira" smiled Lacus before turning her attention towards the others. "You're Kira's friends, are you not?"

"We are," replied Milly. "My name's Miriallia Haw."

"And I'm Flay Allster."

Lacus looked at them for a moment and soon found herself smiling again. "It is an honor to meet you." Suddenly, she and the others saw another person arriving. Flay's heart almost stopped beating when she saw none other than her mother. "No… It can't be…."

"Hello Flay, my child."

Flay stood there for a few seconds as tears began to leak from her eyes. Eventually, she threw herself onto Maria and started crying. "Mama.... Is it really you?!"

"Shhhh… It's okay. It's really me," said Maria, holding onto her sobbing daughter while everyone stood in disbelief at this moment.

"You're her mother?" Kira was dumbfounded and walked towards the two, wondering what was going on. "I thought she told me that…"

"I died?" she asked him bitterly, causing him to flinch. "You couldn't be further from the truth." She then smiled at him. "I wonder, though, are you the pilot of one of the two machines in the hangar?"

"Yes," he nodded his head.

"Captain Allster, what brings you onto this ship?" asked Anthony, saluting to the _Prowler_'s captain, who in turn saluted back to him.

"Captain Ramius allowed me to come onboard, and besides, I have a daughter here to see after so long."

Flay started calming down a bit and she looked at her mother with tears of joy in her eyes. "What happened to you? Why haven't I seen you for the past ten years?"

Maria looked away from her daughter, using her right hand to rub the center of her chest where her scar was. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to tell her but she knew that there was no other option.

"I'm a Coordinator, Flay. Your father is a member of Blue Cosmos, and he tried to kill me."

Flay gasped in complete shock when she heard that. "No way! This can't be true!" the red-haired girl shouted, not wanting to believe it. "Daddy would never try to kill you; he loved you too much to do that and you can't be a Coordinator!"

"It's all the truth," replied Maria as tears started to build up in her eyes. "I also have a scar from a gunshot that says otherwise."

The younger woman stared at her. She couldn't believe that her loving father really tried to kill her own mother without telling her, but she also didn't want to believe that he was a member of Blue Cosmos.

"I loved him with all my heart, Flay. We had you... then Blue Cosmos began to go all on Coordinators. He shot me to keep his status in the organization, but instead of finishing me off, he instead arranged for me to be taken somewhere safe and knew that it would be best if no one knew that I was alive. After I eventually recovered, I decided to flee to the PLANTs where I eventually became part of the Russo Team, or as we are more commonly known, the White Wolves."

"I can't believe this," said Flay, looking away from her mother and releasing her from the embrace. "If you're a Coordinator, then what does that make me?"

"My daughter and a Coordinator."

She was stunned at this revelation and remained completely silent, taking in the information that she had just been told. Despite knowing that her mother was still among the living, she wouldn't accept what her father had done.

"You...don't believe me, do you?"

She looked up, her eyes full of tears and shook her head. "Not all of it; why didn't anyone tell me before?"

"Your father didn't tell you because he paid to cover it up," answered Maria, wishing that she could have said something else instead of revealing the truth to her. However, there was no turning back now, and her daughter needed to know. "After all, he was upset over the fact that you became what you are today."

"He knew too?!" she snapped in shock. Maria nodded once again to confirm to her that it was true.

"He knew everything. He even covered up that you were a Coordinator. He had already lost me; he didn't want to lose you too."

Flay felt her hands turning into fists and was about to say something else when Kira placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. "What matters is that you still have your mother and you should be thankful for that," he said in a soft and gentle tone.

The red-haired girl sighed and realized that she was starting to become her old self, only this time she was starting to hate her own father instead, and she really wanted to give him a piece of her mind if she ever saw him again.

"Mama, I really missed you."

"I know, sweetie," Maria smiled and held onto her daughter once again, leaving everyone in the cafeteria in awe at this touching reunion. "I missed you too and this time, I will be there for you."

* * *

Bridge

* * *

Pal was busy at his shift when he noticed something on the screen. "Captain, I got something," he said, getting the attention of the rest of the bridge crew, and tried to get in contact with whoever was trying to contact them. "It's a signal from the Earth Alliance's Eighth Fleet."

"Is this true?" Natarle asked him in surprise and floated towards his seat, accompanied by Murrue and Rena. "Can you decipher it?"

"I can, but it's going to take some time."

After about ten to fifteen seconds, they heard a deep male voice coming through communications. "Attention…. _Archangel_…. This is the _Montgomery_ of the Earth Alliance Advance Fleet, please respond." This surprised the three women and Murrue started smiling when she heard that.

"This is Murrue Ramius, we read you loud and clear."

The crew was relieved that they would be meeting with allied forces very soon. Even Rena was glad to hear the news, because soon they would meet with the main fleet.

Something crossed the captain's mind and she turned her attention towards the Sakura Burst and the ensign. "I almost forgot, I'm not sure how they would react to us having a _Nazca_-class escorting us and a former ZAFT ace onboard our ship."

"Dammit!" Rena slapped her forehead. "Good point; what are we going to tell the fleet once we link up with them?"

Murrue thought about it for a moment and knew that they wouldn't be happy with this, but Anthony did help them against Drake and she had started giving him the benefit of the doubt despite his name.

"We'll just have to tell them the truth; they're our escort and thus are to be considered friendly."

"We just got a message, Captain," Pal interrupted. "Vice Minister George Allster is onboard the _Montgomery_."

"Tell him that his daughter is safe and sound," said Murrue, nodding to him. "I believe he should at least be grateful that Kira ensured that. Oh yeah," she turned her attention towards Rena. "Speaking of Kira, I've been doing some thinking about him and his efforts in the battles that have taken place. He does have the potential, but he just doesn't put his head into it whenever there are lives at stake."

"What are you saying?"

Murrue smiled. "I believe that it would be a good idea for you to have him as your new student." The Sakura Burst froze at this.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!!" she shrieked, not caring if the rest of the crew heard that. "There's just no way I'm going to train that Coordinator!"

"Rena, you should know that if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here right now and he saved your life, let's not forget that." The captain's eyes hardened. "I thought that you of all people would take that into consideration."

"But…"

"No buts about it, Rena." Murrue stopped Rena from finishing what she was going to say to her. "You're going to take Kira as your new student and I really don't want to hear you bitching about it, understood?"

"I…." Rena stood where she was for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh and crossing her arms. "Fine, but don't think that I'm going to like it."

"Thank you. Now all we have to do is link up with the _Montgomery,_ then we're home free."

* * *

_Kenshi_, Sasuke's Quarters

The blue-haired Ninja had his katana out and was practicing his swordsmanship. He and his friends had been told that they would be following the _Blizzard Prowler_ and the warship the Earth Alliance created to wherever they were headed.

However, something else was on his mind, and it was to avenge his brother's death. He needed to be ready if he were to head out into battle, especially against the White Wolves if necessary.

_Seto, your death will not be in vain. I will make sure that whoever killed you will be sent into the fire of Hell, and I promise that no more of my family will perish in this war._


	10. Phase 9: The Fading Light

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except for my OCs, Anthony Russo and his team are the property of Wingcommander White Wolf while Samorei Joule belongs to NukeDawg.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 9: The Fading Light

Flay lay on the bed in her room. She had never thought that her mother was still alive, much less that the two of them were actually Coordinators. It was then that she began wondering about what she was going to do with her life now, especially because of this new revelation. "Why…?" She asked herself in an upset tone, blocking the light with her right arm. "I really don't understand why he's a…." she never got to finish as a familiar brown-haired male entered.

"Hey, Flay," he said softly while slowly approaching the red-haired girl with a hint of concern in his voice. "You okay?"

She moved her arm and sat up so that she could look at him before slowly shaking her head. "No, not really…." She then let out a small sigh. "It's just that, I…. I couldn't believe that my father lied to me, even if it was to protect me and he also…."

"Listen; try to understand that he had a good reason to do what he did and I'm sure that he thought that you would understand that."

"I know, but still…. I started hating Coordinators ever since my mother was thought to have been killed, but she's alive and she's a Coordinator too…" she cried, latching onto Kira tightly. "I'm one as well and I don't know what to do."

"Shhhh….. Its okay," whispered Kira, gently holding onto her. "You're a Coordinator, but so what? You're still the same girl from Heliopolis and you know that," he smiled. "I'm a Coordinator myself and the others still think of me as their friend. I'm sure that you'll get the same treatment."

The sobbing and sniffling stopped, and then the girl glanced at him with tear streaked features. Not knowing what to say, Kira felt that she was taking what he had said to her into consideration and after a few seconds, she finally said. "I hope you're right."

It was then that the voice of Murrue Ramius was heard through the intercom.

_Civilian Flay Allster, please report to the bridge at once! The crew and I have a surprise that you might be interested in hearing._

"A surprise?" asked Kira with a confused look on his face before noticing that Flay was just as puzzled as he was.

"I'm not sure," said Flay, letting out a sigh before standing up and making her way out the door. "It's something I need to find out."

* * *

_Kenshi,_ Bridge

* * *

"What did you say?" questioned Hannah, staring at Natsume in disbelief.

"We picked up three Earth Alliance vessels heading this way, Commander. I'm not sure why, but if we get detected we'll be history."

"This is just our luck," frowned the Yun-Law Team commander. "First Seto is killed, then the _Blizzard Prowler_ accompanies the new enemy warship, and now this." She soon started thinking about what Zala had said to her before while they were back at the debris belt. "For now, let's see what happens, and if we are to be spotted, then it will be best to prepare for the worst."

"Are you sure about this?" Natsume didn't like the sound of it and the fact that the Prowler was now their enemy wasn't making things better. "We wouldn't make it out of this alive if we did battle."

"I know," whispered Hannah, understanding how the captain felt. "However, I would need to speak to Anthony Russo personally, because there are several things that are on my mind, not to mention that I need to know why he decided to fight against us."

In the cafeteria, Sasuke got himself a glass of water and he carried it along with his tray to a place where he and his friends and cousin usually sat. He knew that being with the others would be very different now that Seto was gone and he was becoming even more worried than ever about Lacus. Then there's the White Wolves being with the new Earth Alliance warship that the _Kenshi_ had reported.

For now, he'd try not to think about it and just try to spend time with Miyuki, Jason and Rin like he always did. "Hey, guys…" he took a seat between his violet-haired cousin and their black and white-haired ally.

"Hi," responded Miyuki with her head lowered and Jason was looking a quite pissed. Rin had told the two of them about Seto's apparent death and neither of them was happy with the news. "I can't believe that this is happening…."

"I know, and he wasn't just an ally, he was my older brother too." He clenched one of his fists upon remembering his discovery. "Not just that, now we might have to fight against the White Wolves if it ever comes to that."

"This is complete bullshit!" snapped Jason. He was trying to keep his anger under control, but so far he wasn't doing a good job. "Why did he have to die and why do we have to go after one of our own as well as this new ship belonging to the enemy?"

"Jason, relax!" said Rin sternly. "You know that if you go out in battle with that attitude, you could be the next one to perish!"

"She's right," added Sasuke with a serious expression on his face. "Besides, we might need to prepare ourselves for what is to come, especially if we go up against the machines that the enemy ship has." He felt bad for Miyuki and placed a hand on her shoulder, as she was always the sweet one of the group. "I sure as hell don't want to have to fight against Anthony and his team; I know that none of you want to do it either."

The others remained silent, shaking their heads. "I didn't think so," he said before suddenly remembering something and slapping his forehead. "Oh man, this reminds me, I saw the Drake Team while I was at the part of the Debris Belt where Seto was last located before his death."

"You did?" asked Rin in shock as were Jason and Miyuki, starring at the cobalt blue-haired teen. "What were they doing there?"

"Not sure; they were next to the _Silverwind_ and from the looks of it, the _Brisco_'s planning on towing it back to the PLANTs. You know what would happen if the homeland sees the ship completely wrecked don't you?"

Miyuki started shuddering violently. "This would increase Anti-Natural activities and I have a feeling that Defense Chairman Zala would use it as part of propaganda."

_**Propaganda? Don't make me laugh. Those Naturals were responsible for destroying Junius Seven and they must be exterminated.**_

Her eyes widened in shock as the voice she heard sounded a lot like her own and she looked around to where it was coming from. Just then, she clutched her head in pain.

"Miyuki," said Sasuke in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"

She opened her unhidden eye and she glanced at him while faking a smile. "It's nothing, I just have small headache," she lied before thinking about the voice from before. _I hope it's not who I think it is, because God only knows what kind of destruction she would cause._

* * *

Flay arrived at the bridge, still wondering about what surprise the _Archangel_ had in store for her. She had many things on her mind at the moment, yet curiosity was slowly getting the better of her. It was then she noticed three small flashes of light in front of the bridge's window and as they got closer, the flashes were revealed to be coming from two _Drake_-class escort ships and a single _Nelson_-class battleship.

"Are those Earth Alliance ships?" she asked in disbelief.

Murrue turned her attention towards the red-haired girl with a gentle smile on her face, nodding her head. "Yes they are and now that you're here, I thought that it would be proper to tell you that your father is onboard the _Montgomery_."

"My father's here?" exclaimed Flay, not believing that it was the surprise that the captain was talking about. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure; we're opening a link to him and Captain Koopman right now. I'm sure that he will want to speak with you."

It took a few seconds, but Vice Minister George Allster and Captain Koopman soon appeared on screen, Flay was a bit nervous about speaking to him before a small smile formed on her face. "Hi, Daddy."

"Flay!" George was happy to see his daughter from onboard the _Montgomery_. "I'm glad that you're okay. I trust that Captain Ramius was taking good care of you."

"Yes she was and you also need to thank the pilot of the Strike as well as Lieutenant La Flaga, because none of us would be here if it weren't for either of them."

"Excuse me, Captain…" interrupted Koopman, noticing that the _Blizzard Prowler_ was with the _Archangel_ and it soon caught George's attention as well. Needless to say, neither was happy with this turn of events. "Tell me, why is a _Nazca_-class destroyer accompanying you?"

Murrue sighed. "They joined us because of something that caused the crew of that vessel to defect to our side and they're our allies since they want to help us bring an end to the war."

"We'll discuss this later," said Koopman in a darkened tone. "Vice Minister Allster and I will wish to come onboard so that you can explain it us in person."

"You're coming onboard?" she asked in shock before eventually slouching down in defeat as she knew that there was no way out of this. "Very well... We will meet you at the hangar."

The screen turned blank and Flay had a bad feeling about this meeting, especially since George didn't know that she herself was a Coordinator and Maria was onboard the _Archangel_ as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Le Creuset Team was traveling through space and onboard the _Vesalius_, Rau was having a conversation with Ades about something that the ship has just detected all of a sudden.

"A _Nelson_-class and two _Drake_-classes have been spotted within the area; they've joined with the Legged Ship," explained Ades with a serious expression on his face. "What are they up to?"

"No doubt they intend to resupply the Legged Ship and that is something that we cannot allow to happen," replied Rau, knowing that something must be done otherwise he'd be a laughing stock of the homeland. "Where is the _Gamow_?"

"It's currently at six mark five zero nine absolute zero comma three, it should take them a while to meet up with us."

"Very well, we shall wait till they arrive before we begin our operation. For now, don't lose sight of the enemy," said the masked commander with a frown before something else came to mind. "I take it you heard about Anthony Russo's betrayal."

Ades nodded his head sternly. "Yes, but I never expected him and his team to be helping the Naturals."

"It can't be helped, especially after what happened to two of Russo's allies at Endymion" he said to the captain. "Then there's the _Kenshi_, I wonder what Yun is up to…. Pursuing the Legged ship perhaps after losing their GINN Long Range Recon Type at the debris belt?" A dark grin started spreading across his face at that thought, but nonetheless, he couldn't allow anyone else to destroy the enemy ships before his Team arrived. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the mission to find Ms. Clyne, but we can't afford to lose this opportunity can we?"

"Understood, Sir."

* * *

Onboard the _Gamow_, Yzak Joule was in deep thought as he floated through the halls. He was angry over the fact that they'd lost the _Archangel_ and the Strike back at Artemis as well as the fact that Athrun was friends with the enemy pilot. "That bastard!" he yelled while punching the wall next to him.

"I'll show him, even if he is one of us, I will kill him, and Athrun better not get in my way again!" he clenched his fists. "I'll also make those Naturals pay, especially for what they did to Samorei!"

Like Athrun and Sasuke, Yzak too had lost a member of his family. His older brother Samorei Joule had fought in the battle against the Earth Alliance at Junius Seven, in a GINN HM no less, and he was a skilled pilot, but it was later in the battle he had noticed the nuclear missile being fired at the PLANT, so he went after it in order to bring it down. Unfortunately he had failed and not only was Junius Seven destroyed, it seemed that Samorei had perished as well.

The younger Joule had sworn to himself that he would avenge his brother's demise no matter what it took; he joined the ZAFT military so that he would have a better chance of achieving that goal.

"Yzak?" he heard a female voice from behind him and he was surprised when he turned around, seeing Shiho floating towards him. "Are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?"

She remained silent for a moment and slowly approached the silver-haired elite without thinking. With a small sigh, she said. "I heard you mention someone named Samorei, was he very important to you?"

This shocked him completely. "You heard what I said?"

She nodded while brushing some of his hair away from his face with a look of concern, failing to notice a slight blush coming from him because of it. "Normally I don't talk about my family, but since we're alone I might as well tell you." He let out an annoyed sigh of defeat before telling her all about who Samorei was, how they used to look out for each other before the war began and what had become of him, not leaving anything out.

Upon finishing, he looked away from the female elite. "The real reason I joined the military is because I not only want to avenge Sam's death but also ensure that the Naturals get what they deserve."

Shiho didn't know what to say, as she knew that one wrong word would most likely make things worse instead of making them better. She glanced at how upset the male pilot was and wanted to hug him, but forced herself not to despite the strange feeling she had towards him.

"I have something to tell you," she breathed in and then back out. "We'll be meeting with the _Vesalius_ and the _Galvani_ shortly; we were told that Lacus Clyne had gone missing and it is our job to find her."

"Whatever," he said before floating away, leaving Shiho looking a bit worried about him. Although he hadn't admitted it, he felt odd whenever he was near her, but he couldn't figure out why.

* * *

Back on the _Archangel_, Flay wondered about what she was going to do, since her father would be coming onboard and she knew he had no idea that she has the knowledge of her and Maria being Coordinators, not to mention that the latter was alive and well.

She soon felt a familiar presence. "Kira?" she turned to face the brown-haired male. She wondered how she could sense him, but she decided not to ask.

"So, how things go?"

"Well…." She didn't know whether to tell him or not and then she remembered her time with him and his family at the cafeteria before their arrival at the Debris Belt and let out a small sigh. "It's my father; he's coming onboard the _Archangel_ and he isn't happy that a _Nazca_-class is with us."

"I see" said Kira, noticing that Flay wasn't happy about the fact that her father was going to be arriving shortly. "Is there something wrong?"

"He doesn't know about you…as well as the fact that you're a Coordinator and my mother is here as well." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I'm not even sure if I should talk to him face to face since I know what I truly am."

"I understand how you feel, however you can't hide from your father and you might not have a chance to speak to him in person again if you miss this one."

This caused her to gasp. "Are you serious? What if…."

"Don't worry," reassured Kira, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm very sure that things will be alright. He still loves you and you should know that, after all you also have your mother around to help you through this."

"Okay…." whispered the red-haired girl, wiping some tears from her eyes before giving him a soft smile. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you be with me when we meet him?"

"Sure."

"Thank you," said Flay. "We better get going." she placed her hand into his, causing him to blush slightly as she led him to the hangar.

* * *

In the meanwhile, the crew was gathering around as the shuttle containing George Allster and Captain Koopman opened and the two men exited, causing the senior officers to salute to them.

During this time, Kira and Flay arrived, the latter still being a bit nervous about having to face her father, who was slowly approaching the ship's captain with a serious expression.

"We welcome you onboard the _Archangel,_" said Murrue, trying to smile despite the situation that they were now in.

The Vice Minister remained silent for a moment and opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly noticed someone present, causing his eyes to widen in complete shock because of it. "M… Maria?" he muttered at the sight of his beloved wife, who was donning a ZAFT captain uniform, with none other than Anthony Russo.

"Well…. It's been a long time hasn't it, George?" she slowly approached him while giving him a serious glance. "Tell me, why are you here?"

While George was unable to say anything, Koopman turned his attention towards Murrue. "Captain Ramius, care to explain why a ZAFT captain is onboard this vessel?"

"She doesn't have to," interrupted Anthony, joining with the group and Koopman was less than thrilled to see another person wearing a ZAFT uniform, a white commander one this time, present.

"Who are you?"

"Commander Anthony Russo at your service," answered the White Wolf. "Before you say your piece, my team and I are no longer part of ZAFT since someone within the PLANTs intends to commit complete genocide. Also, the woman in the ZAFT captain uniform is Maria Allster, wife of Vice Minister George Allster and mother of civilian Flay Allster."

Koopman was completely shocked at this and before he could say a word, George beat him to it. "He's right…. I had Maria sent away years ago because of something I learned, and the fact that I didn't want either her or Flay to be killed also contributed to it."

Maria took note of Flay, who was watching the moment and was looking nervous since she knew the truth, before smiling and nodding her head. "Its okay," she told her before looking back towards George. "We need to talk and it will be as a family."

He didn't say a word but replied with a nod before Maria took his hand and brought him to where their daughter was standing. In the meantime, Koopman was still in shock at this and said: "Let us talk about this in your office; I want to know the full story on what's going on."

Murrue nodded and led him, Mu, Anthony, Rena and Natarle out of the hangar.

"Hello, Flay," said George, hoping that his daughter would look at him despite the events that had taken place between him and his wife. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, Daddy," she replied, not looking at him and causing the older man to become more worried. "I know what happened… My mom was never dead and the two of us are actually Coordinators."

"I…." he tried to speak out in defense, but he knew that he had no excuse for what he had done. "I'm sorry; I really didn't want to lose you even if you were born as a Coordinator and the same with Maria. I'll understand if you two hate me now; I deserve it."

Flay refused to look at him, even though he shot her mother to keep his status as a Blue Cosmos member he was still her father. Once several seconds passed, she looked at him and replied. "I want to…. However, I can't, because if you hadn't done so, neither of us would be around." She started smiling at this kind of irony. "Besides, it's about time that the three of us are together after 16 years apart."

"She's right," whispered Maria. "I know how much you hated Coordinators, which was why I hadn't told you that I was one of them…. When you shot me, I felt the hurt in your soul but, deep down you still loved me." The older woman caressed his cheek, something that the Vice Minister had missed. "I could never hate you either, I hope that you will find it in your heart to let go of the past."

"Maria…." He touched her hand but he didn't feel like he deserved it, however he soon saw Kira. "Who is this young man?"

"Him? Daddy, this is Kira Yamato. I know that this seems like a bad time to say this but he's a Coordinator, as well as the pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike, but he saved my life three times." Flay began introducing her new friend to her father and vice-versa. "Kira, I'd like you to meet my father, Vice Minister George Allster."

Kira scratched the back of his head for a moment before holding out his hand to the older man; George looked at the hand, his old hatred of Coordinators having dissipated after he had learned that both Maria and Flay were ones as well, and then starting shaking it in a very firm grip. "It is very nice to meet you and I suppose thanks are in order, after all you did protect my daughter all this time."

"I just did what I had to do; my friends and other civilians are onboard the ship," he told the Vice Minister with a serious look at his face. "We never wanted to be part of the war, but now we don't have a choice."

"They're not the only civilians here" interrupted Maria, her attention not being taken away. "There is also Lacus Clyne, the daughter of Siegel Clyne. Kira found her lifepod floating in space at the Debris Belt after he and the others had dealt with the Drake Team some time ago. It was a good thing too; she would have died if the pod had been left alone."

George was surprised when she mentioned that Lacus was on the _Archangel_ as well, the only thing he could do was nod his head. "I see…. I'll speak with Admiral Halberton on the situation once Captain Koopman and I return to the _Montgomery_" he turned to look at Flay. "My daughter, I'm still sorry for what I did and for not telling you in the past while you were growing up."

"That's alright, Daddy," she whispered with a small sigh before finding herself giving him a gentle smile. "Besides, the good thing is I have Mama back and that's what matters."

* * *

Murrue's Office

* * *

"And that's what happened…" explained the female captain, telling Koopman about what had happened from Heliopolis to Artemis and then to the Debris Belt without leaving anything out. "We wouldn't have made it this far if it hadn't been for Kira, Marion and Commander Russo."

Koopman never thought that it would be possible for a soul to be trapped inside a mobile suit nor the fact that Anthony Russo and his Team had technology that neither ZAFT nor the Earth Alliance possessed. However, now wasn't the time to think about this as he had important matters that he needed to tend to.

"Tell me…" he took a glance at Anthony, who stood between Mu and Rena (which the latter was less than pleased about). "What do you wish to gain by helping the _Archangel_?"

"There are civilians on board this ship. I am not loyal to any side currently involved with this war, but I don't believe that civilians should be put in danger in such a manner if can be helped."

Koopman remained silent for a moment and listened to this, even though the White Wolf was once an enemy. "You do understand what will happen now that you are with us; ZAFT now sees you as their enemy and will do whatever it takes to kill you and your Team."

"Koopman, Blue Cosmos wants me dead just as badly."

"Of course they do," replied the _Montgomery_'s captain while showing no emotion towards Anthony. "After all they see you as a Coordinator."

"Half..." corrected Anthony.

"We know that," he told the former ZAFT ace with a scowl. "Moving on, this is going to lead to problems, such as what we're going to do with Ms. Clyne once we join with the main fleet."

"The teams on our case are the Le Creuset Team and the Yun-Law Team."

"I see." Koopman's eyes started hardening. "So you suspect that it will only be a matter of time before either of them attacks."

"Correct. The _Prowler_ will remain as the _Archangel_'s escort." The wolf nodded his head to confirm before asking. "Any objections?"

"Not at the moment, although I do have to wonder about how I'm going to explain this to High Command."

"I have a solution for you," stated Anthony. "You don't report it."

Koopman simply glared at Anthony for a few seconds before nodding. "Very well, I'll have the _Montgomery_ as well as the _Bernard_ and _Law_ know that the _Prowler_ is at the moment our ally."

"Sorry for telling you to throw the book out the window; the last thing I need is to give Sutherland an excuse to declare you a traitor."

Koopman simply closed his eyes. "Given that Vice Minister Allster's daughter and wife are Coordinators as well as the only family he has, I can't help but to feel concern for him."

"They will be taken care of. I can promise you that."

"They better be," said Koopman before standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me." He took his leave and the senior officers watched as he did so before returning their glances at Anthony and after a few seconds Rena spoke. "Vice Minister Allster's wife and child are Coordinators huh?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"No reason, I just want to be sure of it," she told him in a serious tone, not wanting to let him see that what she had learned since she had came onboard the _Archangel_ had gotten the better of her.

"She's right," added Mu with a single nod. "Things were a bit tense before when we discovered that Kira was a Coordinator."

"That was before Heliopolis was destroyed, so you won't have to worry about that issue anymore." Anthony then turned his attention towards Rena and smirked, "You plan on exploiting that information?"

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"I'm a soldier, and I know what the information is worth to Blue Cosmos."

"This has nothing to do with the Blue Cosmos!" snapped Rena, her anger slowly developing. "Besides, I'm a soldier as well."

"Rena!" said Murrue in a stern voice. "Calm down. He's not our enemy, remember? And you of all people need to be aware that he's with us because of what Zala is planning."

The Sakura burst huffed with her arms crossed, but she knew that her friend was right and she needed to remain calm even if she had to share a room with the Artic White Wolf as well as train Kira Yamato as her new student.

"Come on, Rena, I want to talk to you," he said in an even tone.

"About what?" she questioned him.

"Just walk with me."

She remained silent and decided to follow him out. "You don't care if they're Coordinators, do you?"

"Of course not," she told him without showing him a hint of emotion. "My students were killed by Coordinators from the Le Creuset Team, or have you forgotten, although..." her thoughts then went on towards the lifeless people at the Debris Belt before she started to shudder. "I don't believe that civilians should perish."

"Then you should have an individual grudge not a racial one" he replied.

"Why do you care anyway?"

"Because I'm human and so are you." Anthony tried to place an arm onto her shoulder, only for her to push it aside. "Please, I want to help."

"Listen, I had a rough month ever since four of our machines were stolen and I really don't want to make it two in a row."

He pressed Rena against the bulkhead, holding her by her collar, "You don't know what a bad month is, Rena. Trust me, I've had twelve of those straight."

"What?"

"You don't know how cruel this world can be," he spoke in a darkened tone, giving her a dark glance in turn.

"Oh really?" she retorted with a scowl.

He let her go. "I was a failed project; I was brought up with everyone wanting to kill me, even my own mother and brother. My father looked after me; ZAFT gave me a team that actually didn't care what I was." This caused the Sakura Burst to slowly soften.

"Is this all true?"

Anthony looked at her and nodded. "Rau shot me, my classmates at the academy tried to kill me, my instructors worked me until I passed out."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. At first she had thought that he wanted to make her feel better about what had happened to her last month, but now she felt nothing but concern for him.

He took her by the hand and led them back to their quarters. "If you want to know more it has to be in private." She slowly nodded and followed him. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it," Rena reassured him, not wanting to let on that she was starting to feel sorry about how bad things were for him.

* * *

Meanwhile, the _Gamow_ had just met with the _Vesalius_ and the _Galvani_. In the _Vesalius'_ bridge, Rau began briefing the pilots and the three captains of what they must do, especially since the _Kenshi_ was around the area as was the _Prowler_, the latter having sided itself with the enemy. "As you can see, the three Earth Alliance vessels met with the Legged Ship and I suspect that they're planning on resupplying it so we can't ignore them. We must take them out before they get that chance."

"What?" asked Athrun in disbelief. He didn't know why this mission was so important when they had to search for Lacus. "Commander Le Creuset, we need to…"

"Athrun, we are soldiers and it is our duty to defeat our enemy even if we were sent on a mission to search for Ms. Clyne," interrupted the masked commander. "As for the Strike, I think I'm going to deal with the pilot personally."

This shocked the others and Shiho raised her hand. "Commander, did you just say you're going to deal with the Strike?"

"That is correct, young Shiho; personally I don't wish to remain onboard while the rest of you carry out the operation. I will be able to handle myself since now I know what the enemy machine is capable of, and as a commander I must lead my troops into battle."

Athrun was feeling bad about this; he personally knew Kira when they were children and Rau wanting to go out to face him made Athrun worry, as he thought that his commander was planning on destroying the Strike so that the young pilot wouldn't have to do the job himself, but he knew better than to question his decision.

"The Legged Ship isn't the only one we must deal with," said Rau, continuing to speak with the pilots and the captains. "From what Drake told us, Russo is our enemy now and we must also eliminate him, especially since he holds a grudge against Defense Chairman Zala."

The pilots slowly nodded their heads, while Athrun secretly swallowed hard at the thought of not only fighting against Kira but the White Wolves as well. Next to him, Nicol had the same feeling about Anthony and his team.

* * *

_Kenshi_, bathroom

* * *

Miyuki was washing her face at the sink and was thinking about what the others had said before, as well as the headache she had experienced. _Maybe I'm just hearing things,_ she thought to herself while preparing to dry her face. _It couldn't have been her, could it?_

_**Oh it can and it is, **_said a voice that sounded the same as the one she heard before, causing the girl to jump back and look around to see where it was coming from. _**I'm right in front of you!**_ It spoke again.

With curiosity and fear taking control of her, Miyuki looked at the mirror and was shocked upon seeing the reflection of her looking a lot different than it did before. "Oh my…." She breathed, noticing that her black hair was now showing the previously covered eye while the white hair was now covering her right eye. "Not you again…." she hugged herself and shuddered at the sight of it and the evil grin it had.

_**Still a frightened little girl, aren't you? You should be grateful because if it wasn't for me coming into existence, then you would have been a weapon, wielded against your own kind by those worthless Naturals.**_

"Shut up!" she shrieked in anger at what her 'other' was saying to her. "My mother was friends with Naturals; Commander Russo's father is one! Besides, I had a real hellish life because of you and the Blue Cosmos' experiment!"

_**Don't talk back to me, Miyuki!**_ Her reflection snapped back at the girl with a hateful glance. _**You wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for me, or have you forgotten?**_

"Just go away, okay?" screamed Miyuki, not wanting to speak to 'her' anymore. "I don't want anyone here to think I'm crazy!" Just then she heard a knock on the door and she heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Miyuki, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Sasuke, I'll be fine," she lied, before turning to see that her reflection was now back to normal and sighing. "She's gone… but for who knows how long." She went to the door and opened it, allowing Sasuke to enter. "Hi…. Sorry about earlier, I'm just not feeling like myself."

"I see," he said as the young woman excused herself before leaving. He knew that he needed to speak to her about something. Of course he also realized that she might not be ready to tell him, not yet anyway, yet he couldn't help but feel concern for her well-being.

* * *

Back onboard the _Archangel_, Anthony and Rena were in their room. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"There is one thing I've been wondering," she sighed, thinking it through for a moment and eventually decided to ask him. "How come you were a failed experiment?"

"They tried to make me a weapon" he started explaining about how he came into existence to the raven-haired woman after sitting on top of her bed. "But I developed moral control instead."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Yeah," he sighed, removing his white coat and tossing it in a corner, letting zero gravity take care of the rest. She went towards him without thinking and began brushing some of his hair with the back of her right hand while he looked at her with his lonely green eyes over the frames of his glasses.

"What is it?" questioned Rena.

"This is the first time you've ever shown kindness," he replied in a gentle tone, one that he usually had while he was with the rest of his team.

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"No... It's just..." he found himself moving closer to her.

"Just what?" she asked him seriously.

He placed a hand gently on her cheek, causing the black-haired woman to start blushing and thought. _What's he doing?_ It was then she noticed that his eyes were now locked onto her red orbs and he slowly inched closer to her closing the distance between their faces before she realized what he was about to do. However, she never got to speak as he pressed his lips to hers in a warm kiss.

While in shock, Rena slowly loosened up and started to return it without any hesitation as Anthony wrapped his arms around her, deepening the kiss, trying to draw the woman out of the soldier. To his surprise, it was working.

He pulled back to embrace her. "You're the only woman...that I've been with like this."

"Are you serious?" she asked in surprise. "Haven't you been like this around other women?"

"Never, not even my own crew."

"I see," she paused for a moment as she thought about her own past, even before meeting and befriending Murrue after becoming part of the Earth Alliance. "I've actually never been like this around any men before."

"Then I guess we have something in common after all," he joked.

"Looks that way" admitted Rena before he lay back on the bed, pulling the woman down next to him. She felt strange when she was with him, just like the last time, only unlike then, she was actually enjoying this moment.

"You don't have to be shy around me."

"I'm not being shy!" she lied in a harsh tone. "What makes you think I'm shy?"

"You feel strange about being around me," he noted while noticing that she was blushing and trying to hide her face from him but to no avail. "Trust me; I've known that feeling too well ever since I first saw you." He playfully tugged at the zipper of her coat and she slowly took it off, revealing the shirt underneath. In response, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders trying to make her comfortable. "Get some sleep; we're gonna need it."

"Alright, good night." She slowly began falling asleep with the White Wolf, who started closing his own eyes, in her arms.

In the bridge, the crew along with Maria and Flay watched as the shuttle containing George and Koopman returned to the _Montgomery_. The red-haired girl was slightly disappointed that he couldn't stay longer but knew that he had more important matters to attend to, being the Vice Minister and all.

Suddenly, Pal noticed something on the radar. "I can't believe it, Captain." he turned his attention towards Murrue and Natarle. "Three large heat-sources are heading this way, N-Jammer levels increasing."

This shocked the captain as well as everyone else inside the bridge. "Can you identify them?" she asked.

"Hold on." He began typing in order to figure out what they were and he frowned upon discovering their identities. "One of them is a _Nazca_-class destroyer and the other two are _Laurasia_-class frigates."

"A _Nazca_-class destroyer and two _Laurasia_-class frigates," Maria asked herself before realizing something. "The _Vesalius_, the _Galvani_ and the _Gamow_ are heading this way!" She floated towards Pal. "Have the _Prowler_ alerted of this and be ready for when they arrive!"

"Understood."

The alarms throughout the entire ship went off, alerting not only Kira in the hangar but also the sleeping Anthony and Rena in their room. The Sakura Burst wasn't happy that she was awakened from her peaceful slumber with the White Wolf.

"What's going on?"

"I should have known…" muttered Anthony, getting out of bed and putting his white coat back on. "I'll bet my money that Rau is the one behind this attack" he noticed that she was getting up as well with a darkened expression on her face. "We'd better get to the locker room and fast. I have something that might help you when we launch in my GINN."

She didn't question him as the two made their way out of the room.

* * *

_Kenshi_, bridge

* * *

"What's Le Creuset doing here?" demanded Hannah, not happy to hear that the Le Creuset Team had arrived and were launching their mobile suits. "Does he realize that our cover will be blown because of him?"

"I'm sorry, Commander; there's nothing we can do," replied one of the crewmen with a frown on his face.

The Yun-Law Team commander placed a hand on her forehead in annoyance. She knew that there was no other option now that the _Vesalius_, the _Galvani_ and the _Gamow_ were beginning their attack. "Connect our pilots and have the mobile suits ready, we're going to head out into battle as well," she ordered before getting up from her seat and making her way towards the hangar. The woman seriously thought that things couldn't get any worse, but it just got worse anyway.

* * *

Back on the _Archangel_, Kira was on his way towards the change room while cursing at the moment because he seriously didn't want to have to go out into battle once again. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice and soon he felt a familiar presence. "Flay…" he turned to see the red-haired girl running up to him. "What is it?"

"My father is onboard the _Montgomery_; you have to protect him, even if he lied to me years ago," she pleaded to him.

The brown-haired male remained silent for a moment and after a while he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I promise that he'll be fine. You better go somewhere safe." She nodded and he left, leaving her a bit worried about him and for George.

Meanwhile, Anthony and Rena entered the change room with the former pulling off his Commander's white coat his boots and his pants before putting on his white pilot suit. Behind him, Rena removed her uniform and soon changed into her own pilot suit.

He pulled two helmets out of his locker before closing it, handing one of them to her, and said to her. "Here, take this. It will help you operate the GINN effectively."

"Okay," she took the helmet and put it on. "We had better get out there and see what's attacking us."

The pair got to the hangar and boarded the LRRT as the Blue Destiny made its way towards the Starboard catapault. "I bet its Rau's team picking on the Advance Fleet and he's planning on taking them out before dealing with us." he started to bring the GINN online. "That helmet has a HUD in it so don't be alarmed when it pops up in your face."

"How can you tell that's even him?" she asked in disbelief as the HUD appeared in her face.

"Tactics, Rena; every commander has their command style," He explained, "Want me to explain how the helmet HUD works?"

"Sure," replied Rena, nodding her head. "But make it fast because we need to be out there to assist the fleet."

"You know the big bulky targeting computers that the most mobile suits, including the Strike, have, right?"

"Yes, I know about that," she told him, her emotionless self reasserting itself as she really wanted to fight off the ZAFT forces. "Why do you ask?"

"It's the same thing, just in the helmet, but you look at a target and it locks on," he explained to the Sakura Burst.

She simply nodded. "I see. It's the same for yours, right?"

"Yes it is. As the pilot, I can select your targets if need be. But since this is Rau's team..."

"Is there something you're hiding from me about that team?" she asked him, wondering why he didn't finish what he was about to say. "If there is, please tell me."

"The pilots of the four G-Weapons are all sons of members of the Supreme Council."

This was a real shock to the Sakura Burst. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me right, Rena," Anthony said seriously.

She didn't say a word; she just looked straight at him thinking about what he had told her before. After a few seconds, he spoke again. "This is extremely political; I hate politics."

"Oh really?" asked Rena, shaking off the shock. "Is there a reason why you hate politics? I'm not into that stuff myself; I'm just asking."

"Improper use of politics caused the Bloody Valentine Tragedy and the deployment of the N-Jammers."

She remained silent and began thinking about the day that those things were sent across space and onto the Earth, causing the energy crisis. However, it wasn't the time to think about it as there was a battle to fight.

"We need to talk about this later. Right now we better head out there before the Advance Fleet is decimated," she told him in her old darkened tone.

"Right. Systems set; primary and secondary systems green," he reported. "Good to go, Mir."

"Understood," said Milly from her usual spot on the bridge. "All clear to launch; the Strike is on standby at the Starboard catapult."

"Anthony Russo and Rena Imelia, GINN WOLF taking off!" The White LRRT shot off the port-side catapult into space with the Blue Destiny joining with it from the starboard one.

In the Strike's cockpit, Kira prepared himself for what was to come as Milly's face came on the screen. "Okay, Kira, the enemies are a _Nazca_-class destroyer and two _Laurasia_-class frigates and they just deployed 9 GINNs, two CGUEs and the four stolen G-Weapons. Get this: the Duel seems to be equipped with a bazooka and the rifles in the hands of those CGUEs look just like beam rifles."

_Just my luck,_ thought Kira while frowning at having to fight against Athrun again as the Aile striker was attached onto the Strike along with the standard shield and beam rifle. He knew, though, that he had to deal with him to ensure that Flay's father survived this battle. "Flay's heading back to the bridge, isn't she?"

"She just arrived and she's worried about her father," she answered. "Just make sure you'll be careful out there."

"I'll be fine, trust me." He saw the screen going blank and noticed that the systems were now all green. "Kira Yamato, Strike launching!" The Gundam was hurled out of the _Archangel_ and was accompanied by Mu's newly modified Moebius Zero. Then he saw the _Prowler_ deploying four white shield-equipped GINNs, each one donning the symbol of the White Wolves, and headed for their position, engaging the Le Creuset Team's GINNs in combat.

"Ok, I'm prioritizing targets. Basic settings: Blue friendly, Red enemy." A small drone separated from the GINN LRRT's shoulder. "Drone deployed."

Rena suddenly noticed the _Bernard_ being destroyed in battle by a shot from the Buster's combined sniper rifle. She started gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.

"Easy, Cherry Blossom, if you let your emotions control you in a battle you'll end up killing both of us." Anthony tried to calm her down.

"I know," she sighed. "However, the Advance Fleet is getting murdered out there; I don't want to sit by and allow this to continue."

"You have control of the offensive systems. I have defense and sensors." He highlighted a target, a void in space. "Aim there and fire!"

"Okay." She took aim at the highlighted target, concentrated and soon fired a single beam shot from the new sniper beam rifle the LRRT now had.

The beam speared a passing enemy GINN, destroying it in an instant. She looked surprised as an explosion took place and the target disappeared from the targeting screen, but her surprise soon turned to determination. "I actually got it."

"Good, because they're on to us now!"

Rena watched as the others went towards the enemy and then noticed a large explosion not too far away from her and Anthony. Her eyes widened in shock as the _Law_ took a fatal blow from a blast fired from the Aegis' Scylla cannon.

"Rena, time for a head shot!" he targeted the Aegis' head. "I want to put it out of commission for now at least!"

She nodded before she started concentrating on the enemy Gundam and fired at it. Unfortunately, unlike the GINN, Athrun had a shield equipped and took the shot on it.

"Dammit!" she cursed before seeing the Aegis aiming its beam rifle at the GINN LRRT. However, before it could pull the trigger, two emerald beams flew in front of it and the Blue Destiny drew a beam saber as it performed a vertical slash, which the stolen Gundam used its shield to block.

Meanwhile the Moebius Zero flew at three of the Le Creuset Team GINNs as the Hawk started grinning and activated the Gunbarrels, revealing their new cannons and blasting them. The pilots were shocked at this and tried to dodge them but the emerald beams were faster, wiping out the enemy machines almost instantly.

"How do you like that?" he grinned before seeing the Duel taking aim at him with the bazooka in its hands. Letting out a sigh, he watched it fire and did a 300 degree spin to avoid being hit. "My turn." He sent the Gunbarrels at the Gundam, shocking the redcoat, who flew away to dodge the beams while wondering how a Moebius Zero was capable of firing them.

"Get out of my way!" screamed Yzak, firing the CIWS bullets with a desire to take out the enemy mobile armor.

* * *

In the meantime, Kira went up against a GINN equipped with an ion cannon and blocked the beam using his shield before firing a shot through its chest. Upon the ZAFT machine's destruction, Kira felt something approaching him and he remembered that feeling to be the same one from before Heliopolis was destroyed.

He watched Rau's CGUE coming at him, armed with his new beam rifle, and he prepared himself for combat. While grateful that he wouldn't be going up against Athrun, he still needed to be careful as that was the same CGUE that had tried to kill his friends before.

Rau, on the other hand, started grinning upon seeing the Strike aiming its beam rifle at him. He knew that if this was the person who Athrun was talking about, then he would need to be certain that it really was him especially, since Cagalli was with the group before the _Archangel_ showed its face.

"Well…. I never thought that we would meet each other face to face," he said in a calm and collected tone, surprising Kira before he saw the man's masked face on the screen.

It was then that their eyes widened as a flash of white light quickly consumed the two of them. Once the light disappeared, they found themselves outside of their respective mobile suits. _What's going on?_ wondered Kira, realizing that something like this had happened to him once before as he turned to see that Rau was just as puzzled as the younger man, who caught the masked commander's attention.

"This boy…. Could he possibly be…" he never got to finish what he was going to say as the two felt a strange sensation throughout their bodies, causing them to look around to see where it was coming from.

An explosion took place behind Kira and they moved to see a mysterious mobile suit which resembled a Gundam going up against another that he'd never seen before, although the unit it was fighting had the same one eye as the GINN and CGUE that ZAFT was currently using. "Alright… who are you?" demanded the pilot, who sounded a lot like the one Kira had heard before, as the mysterious Gundam locked beam blades with the enemy unit. "Tell me now!"

Inside the cockpit, a masked blonde was smirking at this moment as he pulled the Gundam away and took a horizontal slash at it, only for the other pilot to barely move out of the way in time. "Impressive, you are a skilled pilot, but I'm afraid that I must eliminate you." The two machines charged at each other once again and this surprised both Rau and Kira as they witnessed this battle. It was almost like they knew what was happening as well as how it was going to end. "I am Char Aznable and it will be the last name you will ever hear, Amuro Ray."

"Why does it feel so familiar to me?" whispered Kira in disbelief. He also had a strange feeling that he knew Rau from before, but couldn't figure out how or why. Just then, there was another white flash and once it disappeared, Kira found himself back in the Strike's cockpit.

_This is getting weird,_ he thought to himself. He saw the CGUE targeting him with its beam rifle and quickly opened fire at it with his own, knowing that it wouldn't stand a chance against beam weapons. His eyes widened when the enemy mobile suit brought its shield up to take the hit and it didn't leave a scratch.

"What the hell?" he asked as he used his own shield to protect himself from a beam shot from the CGUE in front of him. "How can your shield protect you from my beam rifle's shot?"

"Normally it wouldn't be possible, but my CGUE's shield and heavy sword have the same anti-beam coating as your own shield, so now I'm safe from beams," replied Rau as he opened fire on the Strike, forcing the younger Coordinator to go on the defensive while firing back at him. "Again, I've never thought that you and I would be fighting each other, young Kira."

This shocked the Strike's pilot completely, but he moved to the left to avoid a beam from the CGUE and responded by drawing a beam saber. How did that man know who he was?

A stream of six warship grade beams tore through space, taking out the four remaining GINNs and clipping the Buster. "What the hell was that?" the Sakura Burst asked Anthony in disbelief.

Anthony smirked and said one thing, "_Blizzard_ _Prowler_." The white _Nazca_-class destroyer in question flew in to the battle area at flank speed as it fired another volley of beams.

She watched as the Buster, the Blitz and Shiho's CGUE, scattered to avoid being hit by the beams before the White Wolf GINNs came right at them. She kept herself from laughing, though.

The _Vesalius_ and the _Gamow_ opened fire on the _Prowler_, wanting nothing more than to destroy the traitorous ship. However, a white cocoon shaped shield appeared around the ship, protecting it from any harm.

"What?" Ades couldn't believe what he was seeing. Onboard the _Gamow_, Zelman was equally shocked.

"Isn't that a Lightwave Barrier?"

A volley of beams was fired through the shield directed at the _Gamow_, the _Laurasia_-class frigate moved to the right to try and avoid being hit by them.

A second volley was directed at the _Vesalius_; this one sheared off one of the upper turrets. Everyone who was present on the battlefield was shocked at the sight of this.

* * *

_Kenshi,_ hangar

* * *

Sasuke watched as Miyuki, Jason and Rin launched from the ship and sighed, knowing that he no longer had a choice but to fight off not only the Earth Alliance ships but the _Prowler_ as well. _I guess this can't be helped,_ he thought to himself as he made his way to the launch bay. "Sasuke Blaze, CGUE launching." He was shot into space followed by Hannah's red and black CGUE. He hoped that the Le Creuset Team hadn't finished off the Wolves, because he had questions that he needed to ask Anthony in person.

He and Hannah were welcomed by four attacking Moebiuses; he let out a sigh as he brought out his Gerbera Straight katana and sliced through two of them while his commander took down the other two.

During her fight against the Aegis, Marion gasped in shock as the Yun-Law Team mobile suits and their Moebius Zero entered the fray, destroying several Moebiuses that got in their way. "Oh no… Guys, we have a problem." She hailed the _Archangel_ and the _Prowler_ as her beam saber met with Athrun's.

"Looks like the Yun-Law Team's finally getting involved," said Dearka while firing his missiles at two of the White GINNs, only for the two machines to shoot them down, along with a bazooka shot from Yzak, and continued to fire at the two ZAFT elites.

"Commander Yun's the closest ally in this area, so it makes sense for them to assist us despite her not liking Commander Le Creuset," added Nicol, dodging a slash from the GINN he was up against as Shiho locked blades with the remaining unit. "We'll need to see how they handle this situation."

Mu at the moment flew at the enemy Zero. He knew that he had to be careful, as he was going up against a pilot who was skilled with Gunbarrels much like him.

Inside her own Zero's cockpit, Rin gasped when she saw beams being fired at her and did maneuvers to avoid being hit by them. She responded with her own barrels and fired them at several different directions in the hope that her opponent would slip up, but no such luck. _This guy's good, for a Natural,_ she thought with a smile, as the Moebius Zero pilot was much more skilled than the Moebius pilots she had easily taken out earlier. Although she did have to wonder how his unit was capable of firing beams, she quickly got those thought out of her head as she needed to beat him.

Then both pilots sent their barrels at each other while performing moves in order to try and hit the other's armor, leading to the loss of one of their respective Zero's Gunbarrels as well as taking damage on the sides.

"Damn, this guy is tough, but I'm not out of this yet!" commented Mu before firing the linear gun and the weapons from his remaining Gunbarrels. Rin responded by doing the same in her own unit.

* * *

Onboard the _Archangel_, the crew couldn't believe what they were seeing or hearing as they opened fire at Miyuki and Jason's GINN HMs with the Valiants, unfortunately the two Yun-Law Team elites managed to dodge the slugs before they proceeded with firing at the ship itself.

Murrue was glad that those two machines weren't any of the stolen Gundams, who were preoccupied with the others at the moment. Otherwise, it would be over for them in an instant. Flay screamed as she latched onto her mother, who had a serious expression on her face.

However, the GINN HMs weren't the only problem they were facing. They moved to the far left in order to barely avoid being hit by two beams fired by the _Galvani_ while the _Vesalius_ and the _Gamow_ were busy trying to bring the _Prowler_ down.

* * *

Now in close-range combat, Kira slashed his beam saber at Rau's CGUE as the masked commander countered with his anti-beam coated heavy sword. "How do you know my name?" demanded the younger pilot, trying to force his opponent away. "Why come after me of all people?"

Rau had a sinister smirk on his face. "I know many things about you, and I will tell you in due time." The two separated and the Strike fired the CIWS at him. "I do have to say, Athrun does have taste in friends, even if they're with the enemy."

"What?" he gasped before the CGUE charged at him and did a diagonal slash, only managing to hit the Strike's shield. "You know that I'm friends with Athrun?"

"That's right," answered Rau, putting his sword away and staring at the enemy Gundam. "I know how much he didn't want to fight against you, so I'm going to save him the trouble… Of course, I will reveal what else I know about you, information that Athrun himself doesn't know about, if you join me."

"Join you? After what you and your Team did to Heliopolis, I don't think so!" snarled Kira, aiming his beam rifle at the CGUE's cockpit with anger. "Now, what information do you know about me, and it better be the truth!"

Rau frowned upon hearing that response. "All in due time…. Kira, although you will have a better chance of learning by joining my team and helping us bring an end to the war faster than staying with the Legged Ship. Tell me, why do you fight for the Naturals?"

This dumbfounded Kira, as he had told Athrun before that his friends were onboard the ship he was protecting, but before he could say anything, he noticed that Rau's beam rifle was aimed at the _Montgomery_. The masked commander opened fired three times.

Unfortunately, the beams drilled themselves into the _Nelson_-class' bridge and killed everyone in it instantly.

Anthony's heart skipped a beat. Seeing the _Vesalius_ fire its lower cannons, he jerked the mobile suit out of the way. Rena saw two beam shots pass by them, however they weren't headed towards either the _Archangel_ or the _Prowler_. She watched in horror as the beams drilled through the _Montgomery_, finishing it off.

"NO!" Anthony cried in shock as the ship exploded. Rena, on the other hand, was completely speechless; she wasn't the only one who could only watch the _Montgomery_'s destruction. Kira, Mu, Marion and the crews of both the _Archangel_ and the _Prowler_ witnessed it as well.

"Captain Allster, I'm sorry." He heard a sniffle on the other end of the line. The Sakura Burst looked down at the controls, which she gripped onto very tightly. Maria wasn't the only one who would be upset over George's death.

"Wolves, adopt attack formation pack one!" The four GINNs and the pair's LRRT formed a hunting formation to assist the _Archangel_ against Miyuki and Jason. Suddenly, Rena noticed two CGUEs heading towards them.

"Anthony, we have trouble," she alerted him, seeing the two units. "You're not getting the _Archangel_ on my watch."

"Hold on." Anthony stopped her from taking aim at them. "I would know those units anywhere…" he opened a link between him and the CGUEs. "Sasuke Blaze and Hannah Yun, I never thought that I would see the two of you getting involved."

"Commander Yun," said Hannah with a serious expression on her face while Sasuke simply glanced at the GINN LRRT in front of them. "I can't believe this… Why did you choose to fight against us? What did we ever do to you?"

The White Wolf frowned at his two former allies and was about to say something when a voice was heard throughout the entire battlefield.

.

_Attention ZAFT forces, this is the Earth Alliance forces warship the Archangel. Currently onboard is Lacus Clyne, daughter of PLANT Supreme Chairman Siegel Clyne!_

Anthony, Rena, Mu, Marion and Kira recognized it to be none other than Murrue's voice as her face appeared on screen. Everyone present was shocked at this message and they stared at her without a single word, she refused to let the _Archangel_ be destroyed, not when it had civilians and Lacus onboard.

_We found a lifepod with her inside floating in the Debris Belt and we brought her onboard as a guest. However, if you choose to attack then you will cause her demise as well. We will hand her over to you once you call off your pilots, except for one of course. The remaining unit will be the one to come and recover her, but choose wisely because she will be brought to one of you._

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing, nor could Hannah; he turned to face Anthony and placed his sword away. "This warship actually picked Lacus up?"

"Yes, however it was Kira who found her lifepod," replied the White Wolf with a nod of his head. "He's the pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike, by the way, and I think it would be proper to thank him in person. I also wish to speak to you about why I am fighting against ZAFT."

The blue-haired ninja remained silent as he noticed that the Duel, Buster, Blitz and Shiho's CGUE were now withdrawing from the area and the Aegis was making its way towards both Rau's own CGUE and the Strike. He then let out a sigh and said. "I'll think about it." The Yun-Law Team CGUEs headed back to the _Kenshi_, joined by the two GINN HMs and Rin's Moebius Zero.

"It's a shame, hesitating like that just cost you the lives of everyone on an allied vessel," said Rau as he began floating away from the Strike. "Before I forget, I am Rau Le Creuset and I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield again… However, you'd better be ready to go head on with me, because I'm not going to be so merciful next time we meet."

With that, he turned his CGUE around and flew back towards the _Vesalius_ while Athrun remained silent and glanced at the Strike before he followed his commander. As soon as the Aegis took off; Kira sighed in complete regret over the events that had just taken place before heading back to the _Archangel_.

A/Ns: I'd like to thank White for helping me a bit with this chapter and I hope that the people who read this will also take a look at his "Tears of a White Wolf" fic as well as Nuke's Jade series fics (this includes "Song of the Jade Valkyrie," which is going to be rewritten and hopefully it will have the same plot as the original).


	11. Phase 10: Seperate Ways

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in either the C.E. or the UC but I do own my OCs while Wingcommander WhiteWolf owns his. Thanks to him for helping me with the chapter and thanks to RedCrimson for some suggestions for it.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 10: Separate Ways

By EmperorDraco7

Murrue began frowning. With the Advance Fleet taken out and 4 ZAFT vessels to worry about, she knew that she had to act fast for the safety of both the crew and the civilians onboard.

"Captain…" whispered Natarle after floating towards her. "Don't you realize what you are doing?"

"I know how you feel, but right now we don't have any other option. The ZAFT forces won't be attacking us now that they know that Ms. Clyne is onboard."

"Even so…." said Natarle, biting her lower lip. "Ms. Clyne may be an important person from the PLANTs, but we could use this as our chance."

"Natarle!" she glared at the ensign, anger filling her eyes. "You do realize that she's not a hostage or some kind of tool against ZAFT; we're doing the right thing and delivering her back to them!"

The raven-haired woman thought about it for a moment and let out a small sigh, she may be by the book but she knew for some reason that the captain was right. "Very well…"

With that, Murrue turned her attention towards Pal and asked. "Where are Captain Allster and her daughter?"

"Captain Allster took her daughter to the infirmary after watching her pass out," he answered with a frown.

Murrue sighed and glanced at Milly. "You better go check on her," she told the younger female. "After all, you seem to know her more than we do."

"Yes, Ma'am." She got out of her position and left the bridge, hoping that Flay would be okay, and fearing how she'd feel about her father's death.

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Rena threw her helmet to the ground. She was furious over what had happened to the Advance Fleet and her hands were clenched.

"Rena, calm down!" Anthony wrapped his arms around her, trapping her arms so she couldn't start swinging.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, trying to get out of his grip.

"You're hurt," he tried to reassure the black-haired lieutenant while holding onto her even tighter so she wouldn't break free. "Calm down!"

"I said, let me go or else!" she hissed.

This time Anthony bit off more than he could chew, "Or else what?"

"You definitely don't want to find out."

His grip didn't loosen; he just stood there holding her until one of her arms got loose. The Sakura Burst in a fit of anger used her now free arm to punch the White Wolf hard across the face without realizing it, breaking his hold on her and causing him to stagger backward. She gasped and turned towards him in disbelief. His nose was broken and bleeding and it almost brought him to tears.

"My God..." she breathed with a hint of concern as she slowly approached him. "Are you okay?"

He placed his hands on the sides of his nose and with a sickening crack it was back into place. "I'll be alright. You have quite the right hook."

"I..." she'd never felt this way after hitting another person before; she began wondering about things on her mind. "I need to be somewhere" she made her way towards her quarters.

Anthony just sighed, collected their helmets and followed her, knowing where she was going. However, he noticed Kira, who was floating away from the hangar with his head lowered so much that no one could see his face. "Mu…." He met with the Hawk. "What's his problem?"

"I'm not sure," answered the blonde-haired male while looking a bit worried. "I think it might have something to do with what happened earlier."

"You mean the destruction of the Advance Fleet?"

"Most likely…." That's when Mu realized something. "Did you know that Rau went after the kid rather than me?" he asked the White Wolf. "I noticed while I was fighting that other Moebius Zero back there."

"Come to think of it, I did notice," replied Anthony, snapping his fingers at that thought. Normally, Rau would never go after anyone other than Mu. "The only question is why he would go after Kira…" He suddenly remembered something. "I just met with Lacus' boyfriend in the battle."

"You did?" asked Mu in surprise.

The wolf nodded his head. "Yes, Sasuke Blaze of the Yun-Law team. I spoke to him briefly before the Captain announced that Lacus was onboard the _Archangel_. If he's here then the Moebius Zero pilot you fought against was his cousin Rin Canaver."

"Sasuke Blaze and Rin Canaver?" this shocked him completely. "Sasuke Blaze, as in the son of PLANT Representative Saria Blaze, and Rin Canaver the daughter of Representative Elieen Canaver?"

"Of course," replied Anthony with a nod. "The GINN HM pilots were Miyuki Star and Jason Saito, also from the Yun-Law Team along with Sasuke and Rin. I never thought that I would find those four here."

Mu frowned at this and thought about it for a moment before eventually speaking. "I see… Man, that girl was one hell of a pilot. She managed to do some damage to my Zero."

"Well she isn't a skilled ZAFT pilot for nothing."

"You're right about that," said Mu, nodding his head. "You know, Rena was really angry. It has something to do with the Advance Fleet's destruction, right?"

"Yes it does and she punched me in the face, which ended up breaking my nose earlier," the Wolf told his fellow ace. "I feel bad for her and I just want to help." He soon turned to Marion. "I wonder what her story is; I've never seen her outside of her cockpit at all since I've been here."

"I have meant to talk to you about that. She can't exactly come out of her cockpit because…" Mu began to explain to him that Marion's soul has been trapped inside of the Blue Destiny for years; how Kira found her during their escape from Artemis and that the crew promised that they would find a way to help her with that situation.

"Huh?" this time it was Anthony's turn to be surprised by the news he heard. "It looks like you've got your work cut out for you." The Hawk nodded in response as the Wolf continued. "I'm going to check on Rena to see if she'll be okay." He took his leave.

* * *

_Kenshi_, Sasuke's Quarters

* * *

The blue-haired ninja was practicing his Ninjutsu, a type of fighting style that involved stealth when fighting an enemy. His thoughts were on his recent encounter with Anthony as well as why he was protecting a warship belonging to the enemy, not to mention that said ship had Lacus onboard. The question was: how did she end up there and why?

"The only way to find out what's going on is by going onto the ship and speaking to him again in person," he said to himself before throwing a kunai at a dartboard, smiling to himself as it hit the center. "Looks like I haven't lost my touch."

That's when he realized something….. Something very important that might have led to the discovery of Lacus being onboard the enemy vessel. "Wait a minute…. My brother Seto discovered that the _Silverwind_ was totaled and that there were no survivors despite Lacus not being there when he got there… Of course we recently discovered that she's now with the enemy and…." His eyes hardened with hatred with that thought. "I bet that ship and the Strike's pilot were responsible for Seto's death, and if they are, I'll make them suffer for that!"

Without thinking, he pulled out his katana and slashed at the empty air around him. He was grateful that none of his friends or his cousin were in the room with him, otherwise he'd injure them or worse. Unlike regular katanas, his was unique because it was created from a meteorite that had crashed onto the moon long ago and he was pleased with how his weapon looked and how it came to be. Ever since it was made, he had always used it whenever he was on a mission and whenever he had sparring matches with his grandfather at the Graveyard.

"I'm glad my father found that space rock. Otherwise I wouldn't be holding this weapon right now," he spoke in a gentle tone while smiling a bit. "Now I'm going to do whatever I can to help bring an end to this war." His smile faded and his face turned serious once again. "First thing I need to do is get Lacus off of the ship and deal with Commander Russo on why he betrayed us; he's hiding something and I need to find out."

* * *

Back on the _Archangel_, Milly entered the infirmary and noticed that Maria was watching Elizabeth and Kari looking after Flay. With a hint of curiosity, she asked. "How's she doing?"

"So far, she's just fine and she'll make a full recovery," answered Elizabeth while studying Flay's condition. "Of course she's fine physically; we won't know how she is mentally until she wakes up." She turned her attention towards Maria. "To be honest, Kari and I never thought that you and your daughter would be Coordinators seeing as you are both Allsters."

Maria remained silent and slowly nodded her head, returning her gaze to her daughter while blaming herself for not being able to prevent the _Montgomery_ from being destroyed. Kari looked at her fellow doctor and said. "I think they need some time alone."

With that, they left and Milly felt more worried about her close friend, but she knew that Kira would also be upset since he promised to protect the Vice Minister and ultimately failed in that. Just as she was about to say something, she saw that Flay was slowly regaining consciousness, which made her feel slightly better about it but not completely. All she could do was fake a smile. "Hey there…."

"Hey…" whispered Flay, glad to see her friend and mother before noticing where they were. "Why are we in the infirmary?"

This caused the brunette's smile to fade. "You fainted on the bridge earlier and…." She didn't want to have to remind her friend of what had happened to her father, this would crush her completely.

This made Flay confused about what she was hearing until she suddenly remembered the moment where the _Montgomery_ was destroyed and her eyes widened in shock. "Where's my father? Is he okay?"

There was silence in the room and after two or three minutes, Maria lowered her head and spoke. "I'm sorry…. We failed…. I wanted to save your father but…"

"N... No…. he can't be…." Flay was horrified by the news and she couldn't hold onto her emotions anymore as she latched onto her mother and started crying her eyes out. The older woman held her firmly and began to shed some tears of her own. "F…Father!"

"Flay….." whispered Milly, wishing that there was something that she could say without making things worse.

It was then that Flay turned towards her. "Where's Kira?"

"Well…." The brown-haired girl paused for a moment; she wanted to get the right words out of her mouth, especially since Flay was hurting really bad right now. "I'm not sure where he is, but knowing him, he's really upset over failing to keep his promise… Like your mother, he tried his best despite having to deal with one of the CGUEs in the battle. I hope you're not mad at him for that."

The red-haired female remained silent. She was really angry at Kira for not protecting her father's ship, but deep down she knew that the older girl was right. However, this didn't excuse the fact that she had still lost a member of her family even though she got one of them back. A minute later, Milly spoke again. "If I find him, I'll try and convince him that it's not his fault…." She didn't think about what she was about to say next. "He really cares for you and he might even love you."

Flay gasped when she heard that. "What did you just say?" she asked, causing Milly to cover her mouth in shock upon realizing what she just said. "Kira… loves me?"

"I'm sorry…" said the brunette as she was about to leave.

"Don't go!" shouted Flay, releasing her mother from her hug and grabbing her friend's shoulder. "Is what you just said true? Did you just say that…" Before she could finish what she was about to say she saw a nod to confirm, causing her to start blushing slightly and place her hands where her heart was located.

"Flay…. I'm sorry I didn't tell you… Kira told me once that he had genuine feelings for you, and I could tell whenever he would catch a quick glimpse of you during class before you could notice. He spoke with me about his emotions and I tried to convince him to tell you but he made me promise not to tell anyone. Now he's afraid that you'll start hating him like when you used to hate Coordinators."

This caught the younger girl off guard. She didn't know that Kira actually felt this way and now she was starting to feel strange. "That's alright….. I'm not sure what to think of him anymore…." She remembered when he defended her at Artemis and how he fought to protect her during the battle with the Blitz. "Thanks for telling me though, but I don't know if I should speak to him…."

"I see…." Milly smiled at her and gave her a light hug. "If you want, I can speak to Kira and tell him that you're not mad at him for not saving your father and that you will talk to him yourself when you're ready. I hope he doesn't do anything drastic by then."

"Okay… thanks" said Flay before hugging her friend back.

Maria watched and was also surprised that Kira truly cared for Flay, however after seeing George die in the battle, she wasn't sure if she should try and convince her daughter not to see him. What if he were to end up losing his life as well? Then again, she also didn't want to see her daughter not experience true love. _What should I do? Should I tell her to stay away from him or not?_ She thought to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Anthony walked into the quarters he shared with the pilot who had just struck him in the hangar. He found her crying on her bed. "Rena? Are you alright?"

"No!" she snapped at him.

Anthony recoiled at that. "There is no need to snap at me, Rena."

"Just leave me alone, okay?"

"It's my room too, remember?" he asked as he sat on the bunk across from her while gently stroking some of her black hair.

"Don't remind me," she spoke rather softly and refused to face him. _For all the sins I committed in the past I'm sorry for each of them._

"Care to tell me what's on you're mind?"

"Why should I?" she asked in a harsh tone.

Anthony was unfazed. "Because I'm a friend; someone who cares about you."

"You would..." she sighed and glanced at him for a brief moment before looking away from him again. "It's this war, I hate it when we try to help our allies, and they always end up dying!"

"I know how you feel."

"Oh yeah," Rena remembered her previous conversation with him prior to meeting with the Advance Fleet. "Plus, to make matters worse, the Le Creuset Team is waiting to attack us once Lacus Clyne is off of the ship."

"We got a few hours."

"I know that but there's also that _Nazca_-class destroyer behind us, waiting for the time to attack us with the ZAFT forces in front of us."

Anthony went to her side and kneeled. "Look at me, Rena."

She turned her attention towards him and he gently placed his hand on her cheek, stroking softly. She didn't know why but it was slowly calming her down and she opened her mouth to say something but instead let out a small sigh. Before she knew it, he gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Her eyes widened in disbelief but she loosened and kissed him back.

Anthony then opened her suit's locking collar and unzipped it, snapping Rena back into reality. "What are you doing?"

"Relax. I'm just opening your suit; you didn't change out of it. You just slugged me and stormed out of the hangar."

"Thanks... I guess..." she didn't show it but she felt bad for hitting him earlier, though she usually never felt bad for anyone other than her close friend Murrue.

"Come on, take it off and let's lie down," he suggested, pulling off his own suit and revealing a pair of boxers.

She sighed and decided that it was for the best as she took off her suit and put on a silver nightgown that she left on the table.

He lay on Rena's bed and watched as she lay down with him. "You look beautiful, Rena."

"Are you just saying that?" she asked him while trying to hide a slight blush on her face.

"No I mean it." he wrapped an arm around her, causing her to smile as she placed an arm around him as well.

"In that case, thank you."

Anthony pulled her closer; this prompted her to do the same as his green eyes stared into her red ones. Without thinking, he kissed her again and she responded by returning it without any hesitation. He was making her as comfortable as he could before she let out a small yawn, a sign that she was tired and before she knew it she was falling asleep. In response, he held her in his arms protectively before pulling up the covers.

* * *

Kira screamed in anger and punched the wall as hard as he could, he couldn't face Flay after being unable to prevent her father's death, as well as the fact that she would most likely hate him for it. After everything that had happened at Artemis and the Debris Belt, he thought for sure that he would be able to tell her how he felt, but with what happened in the battle it would most likely be impossible to do so.

"Why didn't I stop that pilot?" he asked himself in rage before punching the wall once again, remembering his encounter with Rau earlier. "If only I…." he stopped himself from finishing when he felt a presence he was unfamiliar with.

"Excuse me…" said a young female voice from behind him and he turned to see a little girl with brown hair and small pigtails, looking at him with confusion on her face before continuing. "Are you okay? You look upset."

He glanced at the little girl who watched him and after a while, he spoke. "Yeah… I'm okay; I just needed some time alone so I can get my head straightened that's all."

The girl cocked her head to the right and didn't know what to say to him after that until she saw some tears leaking from his eyes. "Are you crying?" she asked him as she moved closer. "Did something happen?"

"Well I…." Unsure of what to say, he was trying to figure out a proper answer to give to her. "You ever wondered if someone you know would start hating you for something that happened some time ago?" He saw the girl shake her head slowly. "Well, I'm starting to believe it… The father of someone I care about was onboard a ship that was being attacked by ZAFT and I had promised to protect him. Unfortunately, I failed; now I'm afraid she'll start hating me for letting her down."

From the look on his face, the girl could tell that Kira was hurting really badly and gently held his hand for some comfort. "It's okay, Mister, don't cry. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Yeah right…" whispered Kira, not looking at the girl for a moment.

"I mean it," smiled the girl. "My name's Elle... Do you have a name?"

This got his attention and after a few seconds, he replied. "Kira… Kira Yamato." He soon knelt down to her before asking. "Where are your parents? Don't they know you're here?"

"My mother's in the cafeteria right now and my father…" She started feeling a bit sad upon mentioning her own father. "I'm not sure what happened to him. The last time we were all together was at Heliopolis before ZAFT attacked last month. I hope he got out on time…" It was then she sat down and sighed. "Nobody knows this but…. I'm actually a Coordinator and I thought that my family and I would be safe from the war in the colony but I was wrong."

"I see…." He said in a soft tone before giving her a light smile. "I'm sure your father's fine and you'll see him again soon." The brown-haired male then placed his hand on Elle's head. "I'm a Coordinator too and I've been living in Orb with my family since I was born."

"You really mean it?"

"Of course," replied Kira.

She started smiling at him again. She noticed that he felt a little better and she was starting to feel better about being separated from her father. However, she suddenly took note of something that was around his neck, a small chain. "What's that?"

"Oh?" he looked at her with a hint of confusion before realizing what she was talking about and pulled the chain, causing her to be a bit surprised when she saw that a small, blue, heart-shaped hairclip was attached to it. "You mean this?"

"Yes" answered Elle, nodding her head as she took a closer look at the hairclip. "Where did you get it?"

Kira didn't say anything, deep in thought. He had a secret that he didn't mention to anyone, but he figured that he might as well tell the young girl. "It was a gift…. A gift from a girl I had a crush on years ago…" he spoke as he remembered the day he first got the hairclip. "When I was young, my parents used to take me to the park in Orb and I really enjoyed playing there, but the only problem is that I never made many friends there. Then one day, I met a girl. She was really kind and gentle, she was my very first friend and as we played it felt like I knew her before but I didn't know why." He closed his eyes and continued. "Before the day ended, the girl gave me her hairclip as a sign of our new friendship and I promised to cherish it no matter what. The next day, I came back to the park in hopes of seeing her again. Unfortunately she never came… I never saw her again and I was saddened by that."

Elle couldn't believe what she was hearing and she glanced at him. "That was so sad, what happened to the girl?"

"I don't know… Maybe she moved away," he admitted while staring at the hairclip in his right hand. "That was long ago, long before my family and I moved to space, but deep down I really miss her."

"Kira…." He heard Elle call his name and he turned his attention towards her, noticing that light smile on her face. "I don't know if this would help you but if we survive and return to Orb, maybe I can help you find her one day after I grow up."

Without speaking, he smiled brightly at her.

* * *

On the _Kenshi_'s bridge, Hannah was watching the _Archangel_ and the _Blizzard Prowler_ on one of the screen and the _Galvani_, the _Gamow_ and the _Vesalius_ on the other. Everything was quiet as both teams were thinking about whom to send to retrieve Lacus; the Yun-Law Team commander knew that if she and Rau both sent someone at the same time it could make the two ships attack them. This was something she didn't want to happen as the songstress' life was at stake. "What can we do?" she asked herself silently before hearing Sasuke's voice from the intercom.

_This is Sasuke, Commander Yun, can you hear me?_

"Yun here," replied the female commander, acknowledging the call. "What do you want?"

_I wish to be the one to go onboard the enemy ship and bring Lacus back_ he told her with a serious expression. _I'm already in the hangar and I'm going to launch in my CGUE but I can't go without your permission… Please, Commander, I love her and I made a promise to protect her._

Hannah paused for a moment, wondering about what Rau's Team was up to at this time, but she remembered that Lacus came first before replying. "Alright, Sasuke, you have my permission," she said sharply. "Prepare the CGUE and wait for the signal to launch, am I clear?"

_Yes, Ma'am._

With that, she turned to the crew and Natsume. "Set a course for the enemy ship and alert the Le Creuset Team. Tell them to stay out of this as it doesn't concern them at all."

* * *

_Archangel_, Anthony and Rena's Quarters

* * *

"What the hell..." Anthony moaned as the alarms began going off.

"What is it?" asked Rena, slowly waking up from her peaceful slumber.

He tapped the pad near the bed, opening a com with the bridge. "Russo here, what's the status?"

_This is Murrue Ramius; one of the enemy Nazca-class destroyers is heading toward us, but it's not attacking._

Anthony sat up. "Understood; Russo out." he hated having his sleep interrupted.

"That's just great..." said Rena before slowly getting out of bed and putting on her uniform shirt. "When things couldn't get any worse, this happens."

Just as she was about to put on her uniform jacket, he stopped her. "Before you get dressed, I have something to give you." He told her before he went to the dresser and gave her one of two boxes that had been brought to their room before their meeting with the Advance Fleet. "Put this on."

"What is it?" she asked, opening the box he gave her.

"It's a blue and white camo outfit, its better suited for this incase he tries to take over the ship."

"Alright..." she began putting on the camo. Meanwhile, Anthony pulled his on and grabbed the two cases that he showed Rena earlier. Once fully dressed, the Sakura Burst led him towards the bridge.

Rena arrived at the bridge and she was shocked to see a _Nazca_-class destroyer heading toward them. "Here it comes..."

"If it didn't believe us it would have attacked already," he told the black-haired lieutenant with a serious look on his face. "Besides, I doubt it would attack us anyway."

"I know... What does it want?"

"Lacus," Anthony said simply while keeping his expression emotionless.

"Should have guessed..." she sighed before turning her attention to Murrue and Natarle then back to the White Wolf. "This makes me wonder what they intend to do."

"They know I'm aboard so they know I know the playbook for negotiations," he replied to her. "I also know that they prefer not to risk attacking us if it's just one ship against two."

"I wonder if it will be the same bastard who's chasing after us," wondered the female ace.

Anthony smiled. "No, that's the Kenshi. I know its commander, its crew and its pilots."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Rena, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Hannah would never compromise Lacus' safety. Rau on the other hand wouldn't care."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it" said Rena while biting her lower lip. "Let's hope he stays out of this," she added before hearing Hannah's voice through communications, trying to get the crew's attention.

_Earth Alliance warship, this is Commander Hannah Yun of the Yun-Law Team. We are here to recover Ms. Lacus Clyne from your hands, but be warned, we will attack should any harm come to her._

"Open the channel, Rena; I want a word with her," said Anthony, convincing Rena to assume command at Communications.

"Alright," she nodded, opening a channel between them and the _Kenshi_.

"Hannah, it's Anthony. Do you seriously think Lacus would be harmed if I was around?"

"Anthony Russo, it's been a long time since we last talked..." Hannah's face came on the screen and her expression was dark. "I need to know something: why are you onboard an enemy ship to begin with and why are you fighting against us?"

"For the protection of both Ms. Lacus and the Orb civilians on this ship," he replied seriously with his arms crossed.

"Orb civilians?" questioned Hannah with an eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about?"

"There are about twenty or thirty civilian souls on this ship in addition to Lacus," the White wolf explained. "Drake already tried his luck. As did Rau as you saw."

"How come nobody told us about this?" she snapped at him, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. "Surely the PLANT Supreme Council could have…"

"Maybe because most of the time ZAFT enforces a shoot first ask questions later policy when it comes to Earth Alliance vessels?" replied Anthony, not breaking eye-contact with the Yun-Law Team commander.

"I can't believe this..."

"What, that there are Neutral Civilians on this ship as well as the fact that pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike is a civilian?" he asked.

"What did you say?" yelled Hannah in shock. "The pilot of one of the machines is a civilian?"

Anthony just nodded, "A teenage boy whose identity I will not disclose over an unsecured channel or over the radio for that matter."

"I see..." scowled Hannah before remembering the conversation with Zala earlier concerning the matter of the enemy ship. "I can't believe that Defense Chairman Zala didn't mention anything about civilians when he told me about your betrayal and about the ship."

"Do you honestly think that Zala gives a damn after what happened to Lenore?"

"Now that you mention it..." she thought back to the day of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy and mentally shuddered at that. "He was enraged by what happened to Junius Seven."

"Everyone was. Now, about the transfer of Ms. Lacus, one pilot, one GINN, no weapons whatsoever." he explained the conditions to her.

"Make it a CGUE, because I'm sending over someone who Ms. Lacus is familiar with the most," replied Hannah, not showing emotion towards him or the _Archangel_'s crew.

"No shield then. We'll be waiting."

"Understood..." With that Hannah cut off communications between her and the White Wolf.

"Now we wait. Murrue, watch that ship carefully. I Trust Hannah, but if someone were to interrupt us, light the offenders up." He turned to leave and gestured for Rena to follow him. "Ready for our visitors, Rena?"

"Of course," she told him before following him out.

* * *

On the _Kenshi_, Hannah smiled lightly before contacting Sasuke in the hangar. "It's time. You're clear for launch. Just be careful."

_Don't worry, I will, and thanks._

The female commander watched as the ninja's CGUE launched from the ship and made its way towards the _Archangel_, which was opening the Starboard hatch to allow him onboard. _So far so good, I just hope nothing goes wrong,_ she thought to herself as the crew was now on guard for what the Le Creuset Team would do.

Speaking of the Le Creuset Team, Rau watched as the CGUE entered the _Archangel_ and he grinned a bit at this. "Well it looks like Yun's actually going through with this."

"The Legged Ship does have Ms. Clyne, so there is really nothing any of us can do but cooperate with it," replied Ades.

"It matters not. For now, we'll wait and see what happens," the masked commander told him with a serious expression on his face. "To be honest, I never thought that the enemy captain would be a woman…. We'll need to report to Defense Chairman Zala once this is all over; it was rather humiliating having our ship damaged by one under the command of a female."

* * *

_Archangel_ Hangar

* * *

Marion was watching the CGUE locking itself in place and wondered what the pilot would do, now that he was on a ship belonging to the enemy. To her surprise, the pilot was quite young for his age. "I never thought that I'd get to see a ZAFT elite, especially one who is still in his teenage years," she said to herself silent as a group of soldiers aimed their rifles at him. Then she noticed that Anthony and Rena were arriving on the scene.

"Hold your fire!" she said to the group. "He's just here to pick up Lacus Clyne and then leave!"

Remaining silent, the soldiers lowered their rifles a bit and Sasuke took off his helmet which led to them and Rena looking surprised by this. He then turned towards Anthony and said. "I never thought that I would see you again like this."

"Indeed, I was going to say the same to you, Sasuke, and I trust your family is doing well."

The blue-haired Ninja slowly nodded his head. "Yes, they're fine, but my brother…." He wondered if the White Wolf knew about it and his eyes darkened. "My brother's been killed and I knew that this ship and the pilot of the Strike were responsible for causing his death!"

"Calm yourself, Sasuke," Anthony spoke in a low voice, having noticed the soldiers getting ready to raise their rifles and fire the moment Sasuke decided to attack them. "Getting angry is not going to make things better."

"How can I?" he asked in a dark tone. However, he knew that the older male was right. "I already lost my father and now my brother's gone too."

"Isn't that the Nature of War, Sasuke? From what I saw your brother fired first!"

"What do you mean he fired first?" questioned the younger male, wanting to know what the older one was talking about.

"Your brother engaged and nearly destroyed an unarmed shuttle pod," explained Anthony, wanting him to listen to reason and believe what he was saying. "Kira had no choice but to defend it. Seto fired first and I watched that short battle to its bloody end!"

Sasuke was completely shocked at this. "I... I didn't realize that there was a shuttle pod present in the Debris Belt... We were trying to find Lacus and see if she was alright."

"Well she's alright; another hour and she would have died," he reassured Sasuke while placing a hand on his shoulder. "You should consider yourself lucky that she is still alive."

"I see..." Sasuke started feeling really bad about this and with this revelation, he wasn't sure what to think of the _Archangel_ or its pilots anymore, but then something else crossed his mind. "How come you're onboard this vessel, and why are you fighting against us all of a sudden?"

"Patrick Zala plans to use a Super Weapon to utterly exterminate all life on Earth," Anthony began to explain his reason for betraying ZAFT. "You're not going to like this, but Rau is backing him and so is Drake."

"A Super Weapon?" wondered Sasuke in disbelief. "How did you find that out without Zala knowing? Does it have a name?"

"I can't tell you right now."

"I understand..." said Sasuke with a frown, knowing that he would be told about it when he was ready to learn what it was. Soon he turned to Rena. "Who is she?"

"I'm Lieutenant Rena Imelia…." The Sakura Burst spoke for the White Wolf, giving him an emotionless glance that said _let me handle it_. "I'm one of the crew members of this ship since I don't have my Moebius here…. Blame Endymoin for what happened to it in case you are wondering about that."

"So you're the Sakura Burst, Commander Russo told me about you after he returned to the PLANTs after that very battle," said the Ninja before returning his eyes to Anthony and asking "Where's Lacus?"

"In one of the junior officers' quarters waiting."

"She is?" he asked in surprise. "Since I'm not familiar with this ship, it would be wise if you show me its location then."

"Very well," Anthony escorted him to where Lacus was currently located. Along the way, Sasuke looked amazed by how different the _Archangel_ was from the _Kenshi,_ but then again he had been wondering about the differences between the insides of a ZAFT ship and an Earth Alliance one. "Don't get comfortable; to them you're the enemy."

"I'm just here to pick up Lacus and then return to the _Kenshi_," reminded Sasuke, knowing full well he didn't intend to remain onboard. "I'm not trying to cause any trouble."

"Talk to your commander once you return, I spoke with her earlier about why I turned my back on ZAFT. As of now I fight with Orb and that's how it's going to work," The White Wolf told him.

"If you fight with Orb, why are you helping an Earth Alliance ship?"

Upon that question being asked, they took a detour to the crew quarters to see the refugees and the blue-haired teen was shocked upon seeing them. "How did those civilians end up here?"

"These are refugees from Heliopolis, the colony Rau Le Creuset destroyed without batting an eyelash," Anthony said rather darkly.

"He what?" yelled Sasuke, clenching his fists in complete anger. "Why did he do that? Does the Council know about his actions?"

"He did it to destroy the _Archangel_ and the Strike; he has four of the other G-Weapons in his possession at this very moment."

"That's complete bullshit!" Sasuke cursed. He wanted to do something about it. "My mom and my aunt are part of the Supreme Council, I'll have to tell them what you told me." He punched a nearby wall. "I can't believe he would resort to that."

"Sasuke, calm down."

He turned to glance at Anthony once again. "Does the council know about this?"

"More than likely, but Zala used Junius Seven to blind them to it," answered the older man with a scowl.

"That's just great," groaned Sasuke with a sigh. "My mom and my aunt need to know what's going on since they're with the council as well."

"When you take Lacus home, talk to them," he told the younger man while looking at him with a serious expression.

"I will," replied Sasuke with a single nod before they continued on their way to Lacus' quarters. After about a minute or two, they finally arrived at their destination.

"Here we are," said Anthony. "Go inside and talk to her, I'll be waiting outside when you are ready to leave." He patted his shoulder. "Oh, and take good care of her."

"You don't have to worry about that," Sasuke told the Wolf, giving him a light smile before fixing up his headband. "I always look out for the people I care about." With that said he opened the door and entered the room to see Lacus singing to her Haro. "Hey there Lacus…"

She stopped what she was doing upon hearing his voice. She turned her head around to see him and her eyes widened in shock. "S…Sasuke?"

He remained silent for a moment, nodding his head and said. "Yes, it's me." a smile began forming on his face. "I was really worried about you."

They looked at each other for a few seconds and after a while, the pink-haired girl ran towards him, hugging him tightly. In response, he wrapped his arms around her to return the embrace without hesitation. "So…." He began to speak in a soft voice. "Did the people of this ship treat you well?"

"Yes they did," answered Lacus with a bright smile. "The crew was very kind to have me onboard and I am thankful they found me… I also made a few good friends here."

"That's good. I came here to take you home. Your father sent us to find you."

"Oh?" asked Lacus in surprise. "If Father sent you to find me, then he must be really worried about me…. " She went to the bed and picked up Mr. Pink before speaking again. "In that case, it would be best if we return to the homeland, but still…."

"Lacus…." whispered Sasuke, as he noticed some small tears forming in her eyes and gently wiped them off. "You know why Commander Russo is fighting against ZAFT don't you?" A nod of her head confirmed it to him. "Once we're back on the _Kenshi_, you can talk to Commander Yun about the people here and you can speak to your father once we're home."

"Okay…" she said, holding onto her boyfriend's hand as he led her out of the room. She didn't show it too much, but she smiled as she was really happy to see him.

* * *

Back in space, Hannah patiently waited for Sasuke and Lacus to leave the _Archangel._ However, she also suspected that Rau would try something, so she had to be careful. Another minute passed, and she noticed the CGUE launching from the ship and heard Sasuke's voice through communications.

_This is Sasuke. I have Lacus with me and we're on our way back to the ship._

"That's good to know," said Hannah with a smile. "I'll be awaiting your return." Unfortunately, as soon as she said that, she was suddenly alerted by one of the crew members.

"Commander!" he yelled. "A mobile suit has launched from the _Vesalius_ and the Le Creuset Team is preparing to attack!"

"What?" she shrieked, realizing that Rau was planning to attack the _Archangel_ just as Lacus was being returned to them. "Get me Le Creuset now!" she ordered, wanting a word with him. "I can't believe him!" A few seconds later, the masked commander's face came on the screen. "The enemy warship gave Ms. Clyne back to us, what is the meaning of this!"

"Yun, I am aware of your actions but we cannot stand by and allow the Legged Ship and the traitors to leave the area" he said sharply. "We must take them down when we have the chance or don't you realize that?"

"Damn you!" she snarled before hearing Lacus' voice from within Sasuke's CGUE.

"Commander Le Creuset! Stop what you are doing right now!" said the Songstress with a serious expression.

"Ms. Clyne…." Rau didn't finish what he was about to say as Lacus interrupted and continued.

"You intend to make this a battlefield with a ceremonial representative like myself present?" she asked him while staying calm. "As the daughter of Chairman Siegel Clyne, I suggest you halt your attack immediately."

This made Rau grit his teeth in anger. _Damn…_ he thought darkly and turned his attention towards the other CGUE. "Very well…." The white CGUE flew back towards the Vesalius.

Inside his own CGUE, Sasuke sighed in relief and took once last glance at both the _Archangel_ and the _Prowler_ before heading to the _Kenshi_.

Meanwhile the crew of the _Archangel_ watched the four ZAFT ships leaving the area and Murrue was grateful at that. Of course they needed to get going as well and she turned her head behind her. "Contact the _Prowler_ and that… Tell them that we are heading for Lunar Headquarters."

"Yes ma'am."


	12. Phase 11: The Awakening Sword

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Also I can't believe it has taken me about a year for me to get this damned thing completed and I almost forgot all about it too.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 11: The Awakening Sword

By EmperorDraco7

Marion sighed, she was glad that the Le Creuset Team won't be coming after them for a while and that would give them plenty of time to make their way to Lunar Headquarters, however she wondered if Murrue would keep her word and help her with her own situation not to mention that she's bored and would like someone to talk to for a while to keep her mind off of it.

Just then Anthony entered the hanger with the intention of working on his GINN's electronics and this made her feel a little better before calling out to him, hoping to get his attention. "Hey!"

He heard her and smiled, taking a radio earpiece and placing it into his ear, tapping it in view of the Blue Destiny telling her to tune to his radio. Without a second thought, she turned into his radio, she was hoping to actually speak to the White Wolf since he first came onboard the Archangel sometime back. "Lonely?" he asked.

"Yes I am" she slowly nodded her head. "How do you know?"

Anthony shrugged, "Just a feeling I got. Your soul is imprinted in the machine's OS right?"

"It is..." whispered Marion with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"You're basically an AI... I think I can help you get out of that machine so you can have a little more freedom" he told the living mobile suit, he was concerned about the situation that she currently has and wanted to do something to make her feel better. "If you want of course…"

"You can?" The news caught her off guard for a moment but is got her complete attention. "How will you be able to do that?"

"I can have a tech install AI module to the ship and when trouble comes you can transfer yourself to your machine again."

Hearing that made her lighten up and she was feeling relieved. "Thank you..."

"You would have to talk to Murrue, you would technically be the ship's AI" explained the White Wolf.

"I understand..." she said, nodding her head to confirm. "It would be better than remaining in the hanger with no one to talk with."

"Are you the sort to be power hungry?" he asked with a serious expression on his face, wanting the truth from her.

"Of course not!" answered Marion as truthfully as possible. "Although I do miss being human... Ever since my soul ended up in here I always wanted to find a way to get out of here and get a new body but it's been many years since that incident happened."

"Well how about a hologram until we can get you a physical body?" he suggested.

"That might work" replied Marion, actually liking that idea and hoping to interact with more of the people onboard the Archangel.

"You would get to choose your form."

"Thank you" said a now happy Marion with a small blush. "How about my form being that of a teenage female with short blue hair and red eyes?" She suggested.

He climbed into the cockpit bringing the OS online and said. "Sounds lovely, you would be free to the information and systems on the ship, even helping the crew."

"Thanks, don't worry I'll do whatever I can to help the ship."

"Good." He smiled at her.

"We never got properly introduced, my name is Marion Welch." She would have smiled back at him if she could had it not been for the fact that she's still trapped in the Blue Destiny. "I'm a Newtype born in the Universal Century."

"During the Reconstruction wars?" he asked, a bit surprised upon hearing that before shaking his head. "Well never mind. I'm Anthony Russo the White wolf."

"It's very nice to meet you and to actually speak to you."

"Like wise, without you having a gun on me" he replied back.

"Well I wasn't born in this current era so I wouldn't have a gun on you but I have to admit, a lot of things had changed since my last battle in California years ago" she told him, thinking about the time she had since she first ended up in this machine and fought alongside her very first pilot until California took place.

"California?" Anthony wondered what Marion was talking about when she mentioned it.

"Yes" she answered. "My soul was already inside this mobile suit by then and the original pilot Yu Kajima was part of a squad of the Earth Federation forces sent to recapture the California base from the Principle of Zeon on December UC 0079."

"I see…." He frowned, not liking what he was hearing at all. "Either you jumped a dimension or it was during the Reconstruction Wars, because there is no record of an attack in the upper Atlantic federation even then."

"I never heard of these Reconstruction Wars and I never heard about this Atlantic Federation until after the Blue Destiny and I were discovered by the Earth Alliance in California last year." She spoke softly, having no idea what the Reconstruction Wars were or what caused them in the first place though she also wondered about it.

"Then you must have come from another Dimension."

"It looks that way..." she sighed, knowing that he was right. "When I woke up after that battle in California I have wondered about how things on Earth and in space had changed from before."

"As you can tell, things are far different" said Anthony, remaining completely serious as he spoke.

"That's just great..." she didn't like hearing that. "This makes me wonder how things will turn up this time around."

"Who knows?" He shrugged while adjusting the targeting systems, "How old are you Marion?"

"I don't remember, my soul's been in this mobile suit since December UC 0079 but let's just say that I'm 15 or 16 years old."

"Kira's age huh?"

"Something like that" she replied to him.

He nodded. "Ever love anybody?"

"No... Not really, though if I ever get a human body, I'll try and find someone" a small blush formed on the cheeks of the mobile suit at the thought of it though she needed to get out of the machine before she could think more on that.

"When we get you linked up to the Archangel or a data hub, search up all the information you want on love and sex."

"I'll try" said Marion, hoping that it would work.

"Don't worry and when you have time, run simulations based on your own information. I mean, you might as well be prepared incase you do get a new body" he explained to his new friend, smiling at her.

"Okay," whispered the Newtype with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"You might as well enjoy yourself while you're at it."

I will…. Thank you" she was really grateful for his kindness and for trying to help her in her current situation.

"You're welcome" smiled Anthony, glad to help her out. "The Junk Guild has an AI as well, although it's a human brain."

"Really?" she wondered, though she is confused about how an AI can be a human brain as well as how anyone would said brain perfectly intact…. It was both disturbing and strange to her.

"Yeah…" answered the Wolf, shrugging at this.

"Wow…. Does it have a name?" wondered the former human, hoping to find out more on this brain he was talking about.

"The brain belonged to George Glenn, the first Coordinator" he answered to Marion, though he remembered how Glenn actually died and it angered him whenever he thought about learning of that event in Coordinator history.

"The first Coordinator?"

"Yeah, don't ask" he simply replied with his eyes closed, not wanting to go deeper into the subject and Marion could tell that he wasn't ready to reveal it…. Not yet at least.

"I see…."

He was silent for a moment while he calibrated his sensors, "What do you want out of life?"

"I'm not sure..." Marion would have frowned if she could of course she mentally wished that she can. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because all I want... is to be able to love someone, and live a normal life without my past haunting me every step of the way" he answered.

"Well... I really hope to one day start a family but right now it won't be happening anytime soon due to my current situation" she then realized something. "Is there anyone you love right now?"

"Yeah, I do…" replied Anthony, lowering his head when memories of a certain Sakura Burst flashed before his very eyes as well as how she is currently feeling towards him at the moment. "I'm just scared that she'll reject me."

"Why would she reject you?"

"Because I'm a half-breed…." he said as sadness filled his voice and he felt that he needed to let it all out before it ends up completing consuming his soul and it affects him for when the next battle were to ever take place.

"A half-breed?" wondered the Newtype, curiosity made her want to know more about this and how it is possible for one to come to be…. She wanted to see if she can help make him feel better.

"My Genetics are comprised of both Natural and Coordinator Genes…." He told her, his eyes glancing away from the Blue Destiny as he did so.

"Really?" she asked with a worried tone in her voice since she couldn't physically show him. "I never heard of a Natural/Coordinator half-breed before."

"I bet you haven't" shrugged Anthony, trying not to show any sign of being sad about what he was telling her but she knew better.

"How is that even possible? Was your one of your parents a Natural and the other a Coordinator?"

"My father was a Natural" he answered, again not looking at the mobile suit in front of him despite this. "My mother's a Coordinator…. I'm not the only one…. Flay is also a half-breed due to her mother being a Coordinator and her father being a Natural…."

"That's really interesting..."

"Not really." Anthony countered.

"How so?" wondered Marion, her Newtype abilities telling her that he's not happy even if he wasn't looking at her directly though he was opening up to her and it's making him feel a bit better about this. "Can you tell me please?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"I understand," the living mobile suit nodded her head, realizing that now wasn't the time to find out more on the situation "I'm not going to force you into something you don't want to do."

He smiled. "Thanks Marion."

"Anytime" said Marion, glad that is cheered up even if it was by a little and hoped that she could be of some more help when he was ready to talk to her again…. For now, she let him be so he can work on the GINN LRRT just in case the Archangel should ever be attacked again on the way to meet up with the Eighth Fleet.

* * *

Unfortunately, the Archangel and the Prowler will not be let go so easily as the Vesalius, the Galvani and the Gamow were once again perusing the two enemy ship while avoiding being detected. In the bridge of the Vesalius, Rau was making the current plans on their next attack with Ades, Zelman and Captain Johnson especially since Lacus wouldn't get in his way this time around now that the Kenshi had left to return her to the PLANTs, which will make things easier for the masked commander.

"We've detected a group Earth Alliance ships at the location of the moon …." explained Johnson, not liking the sound of this. "The question is…. Why are they all gathered together… Could it be possible that they're planning to meet up with the Legged Ship and the traitors with it?"

"It is very possible…" Rau nodded his head, though he knew better despite the fact that his ships currently outnumber the Archangel and the Prowler two to one, they have more mobile suits to help them against his Team. "Of course we will need to be ready to intercept them before they can rendezvous with their allied forces… Don't forget we have 4 of the machines we captured from the Alliance and our elites have lasted this long because of it…"

"Even so…. There is the matter of the White Wolves' GINNs having been modified since they turned on us…" explained Zelman. "Not to mention their ship also has modifications of its very own… How do you suppose we deal with that?"

"We'll cross the bridge when we get there…" he told the Gamow's Captain, of course he is still curious about what happened earlier when he fought the Strike before and wonders if there is a connection to that and the two. "As for the Strike, I shall deal with it personally since Athrun shouldn't have to go through the trouble of having to take the pilot down himself…. As for Russo and his team as well as the Legged Ship, I'll let you and the others take care of them."

"Understood commander…" said Ades with a simple nod, however he was wondering why Rau himself would want to fight against the Strike again as there has to be another reason to that besides Athrun having trouble with having to face it. "In any case… we will make sure that neither one of the two ships will meet up with reinforcement…"

"Execellent…." grinned the ZAFT commander. "Now here is what we are going to do…"

* * *

Back on the Archangel, Anthony was busy sorting out the GINN LRRT's systems. "Damn..." he cursed when the program hit a few errors. Even though Lacus managed to prevent the Le Creuset Team from attacking the Archangel this time, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before they decided to come after the Archangel and the Prowler again so he needed to be ready for when it happens.

"Commander?" came the voice of Captain Maria Allster from outside of the GINN's cockpit, it sounded like she was bothered by something when she spoke and it made the White Wolf wonder about that.

"Yes captain?" he asked, bringing his head out to look down at her while raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Sorry if I'm disturbing you but…. what are you doing?"

"Getting the bugs in my GINN sorted out..." replied the White Wolf.

"What kind of bugs?" she questioned while cocking her head to the right with a confused look on her face.

"Software ones..." he answered without looking at her, of course he suspected that there was a reason to why she came to the hanger and it wasn't to see what he was doing either but said. "So far, I'm not having much luck with that."

"I see..." Maria quickly remembered why she came to the hanger and closed her eyes when she thought about Flay. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Another error popped up on the screen. "Arrrgh Damn it!" he angrily punched the console. "Yeah sure..." he said calming down stepping out of the cockpit. The Prowler's captain remained silent and smiled a bit when she saw him using the zip-line to get to the ground. Once he set foot on the deck, he asked. "What do you want to talk about?"

The red-haired woman sighed. "It's about my daughter, she's upset that her father was killed in battle earlier and..." she paused for a moment before she eventually continued. "She also just recently found out that Kira has feelings for her but the thing is I'm in a bit of a conflict as I don't want her to be hurt and I don't know if I should try and convince her not to see him anymore or not."

"My mother was never there for me Maria" said Anthony with a serious expression. "Just do what you feel is right for your daughter, and Kira might just help her as well."

She looked at him for a few minutes. "I hope you are right... I don't want to lose her to this war…. Especially with that happened to George earlier…"

"She'll be fine" he reassured, placing a hand on her right shoulder. "She has her friends and they'll look after her."

"If you say so, any word from the Blood Fang?"

He shook his head with a frown. "No and knowing my Dad, it probably won't be for a while."

"I see..." frowned Maria, not liking this news one bit. "Hopefully we would reach Lunar Headquarters soon because knowing the Le Creuset Team, they most likely would go after us again"

"Just count your blessings."

She sighed again and then turned her attention towards Marion. "How come I've never seen the pilot of that mobile suit?" she asked while pointing to the Blue Destiny. "Does he or she stay there 24 hours a day or something?"

"It's complicated but…." He started to tell the Prowler's captain about what Mu told him about Marion's current situation, this news surprised her completely.

"I see..." she didn't know what else to say before she turned around to leave. "I'll go check on my daughter to see how she's doing…. Hopefully she's feeling a little better about losing her father and if she isn't, I'll see what I can do to cheer her up…."

"Very well, although I will need a break from this…." He replied back while getting out of the cockpit and decided to go back to his room, though knowing Rena…. She wouldn't be happy when he arrives there.

* * *

_Kenshi, Sasuke's room_

Lacus is happy that she will be returned to her father at the PLANTs, she was really worried about him and hoped that he is alright. Then again, she was a bit saddened for having to leave her newly formed friends on the Archangel and wished that she would see them again sometime soon…. Holding her pink Haro did make her feel slightly better but she would notice that her blue-haired boyfriend was frowning for some reason and she wondered why.

"Sasuke..." whispered Lacus, slowly brushing her hand on her boyfriend's right cheek upon noticing that he was slightly upset. "Are you okay? You seem sad."

"I'm alright..." he lied but stopped for a moment as he wondered about how he can break the news to her "It's my older brother Seto... He was killed back at the debris belt before we learned that you were onboard the Earth Alliance's new warship. My mom and aunt are going to be crushed when they find out and right now, Rin is upset due to knowing of his demise."

"Oh my…." This shocked the pink-haired songstress and caused her to place her right hand to her face. "I…. I didn't know…." She spoke in a soft voice even though she didn't know who had killed Seto at the debris belt. "I'm… I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to your older brother….. I wish there's a way I can help…."

"I know…. Still, I don't know how I'm going to view the pilot since he did save your life… In fact, I'm not sure if I can even trust him since he's with the enemy."

"You mean Kira?" she asked, this got his attention and he wondered how she knew the name of the pilot. "He was really kind to me during my stay on the Archangel…. I also made friends with Mirialia and Flay as well…"

"Who?" he looked more surprised by this and said. "You actually befriended with some of the crew members of the new warship from earlier?"

"Yes… They were really kind to me, plus they're about the same age as me… Flay's mother Captain Maria Allster of the White Wolves was onboard as well…. I was surprised when I saw how the captain's daughter reacted to seeing her in the cafeteria."

"Captain Allster was onboard the ship and she's the mother of this Flay girl?" exclaimed Sasuke in disbelief upon hearing that, though it does make sense since one of the White Wolves' Nazca-class ships were with the enemy warship.

"Yes she is…" answered Lacus with a light smile on her face as she hugged the boy she loved tightly. "I think you should meet Flay sometime…. She's actually a very nice girl and you'll actually like her."

"I don't know…" he was really confused about this, especially when he remembered what Anthony told him back on the Archangel earlier. "There's still this dammed war to bring to an end as well though I will think about your offer…. For now, let's just relax as we'll be back at the PLANTs soon."

Lacus laughed a bit and said. "You haven't changed a bit…." She smiled as she gave him a small kiss on his cheek, making his blush at this. "That's what I really like about you though and I'm glad that you're still who you are."

* * *

_Archangel, Rena's quarters_

* * *

Rena groaned as she laid on her bed, she needed to rest in order to not think about what became of the Advance Fleet and having to work with a former ZAFT ace isn't making things better for her either. Plus she had been fuming over something that happened at the Battle of Endymoin sometime back and she was angry at this while wishing that it was her old Moebius or the Strike she was piloting though it was too late on both those cases as she needed to tolerate being the co-pilot for the GINN LRRT for the time being.

"Still blame me for what I did your Mobile armor?"

"Huh?" she turned around to see that Anthony was now in the room and frowned at this turn of events. "What do you want? Can't you see I need some time alone?"

"Answer my question." He told her sternly, hoping that he would get his answer without any problems from the female Natural.

Biting her lower lip, Rena let out a small sigh. "Yeah, I'm still mad at you for what happened and I'm also fuming that the Cyclops System made it beyond repair..."

"Well we were on opposing sides at the time" he said while sitting down on the bed next to her but is also concerned about her well being. "Still… You can't really blame me."

"Does it matter?" she asked in a rather dark expression on face while crossing her arms before walking towards him. "I lost a good mobile armor because of you and Endymoin."

"And what would you do to get back at me? Force me to sleep with you?"

"What makes you think I would try to make you sleep with me?" she questioned while glaring at him. "Besides, the Captain wouldn't be happy if I decided to kill you right where you stood so consider yourself lucky that we're not on different sides anymore."

"I'd let a beautiful woman kill me any day…." He replied with a simple smile.

"Are you just saying that?" Rena didn't look convinced at all before she realized something. "Come to think of it, have you ever killed a woman on the battlefield?"

"Not intentionally" explained the White Wolf, his smile fading into a frown as he knew that Rena wasn't happy with him at all despite his helping the Archangel since the debris belt.

"What do you mean not intentionally?" In a split second move, Anthony drew his pistol and aimed it at Rena's head, almost catching her off-guard. "What are you doing?"

"Proving a point…" he told her, not breaking eye contact at all. "Do you think I'd pull this trigger and kill you?"

The Sakura Burst remained silent while gritting her teeth and sending him a hateful glance, thinking that he is trying to kill her and then betray the Archangel. She watched as he slowly pulled the trigger, expecting the shot to go through her head and take her life. However the only sound was a loud click of an unloaded weapon, she opened her eyes and said. "Huh?"

"I normally don't keep it loaded…" he answered, placing the gun away with his eyes closed while doing so. In fact, he wouldn't want to kill a woman at all since it wouldn't be part of who he is.

"Why not?" she asked, still confused by this at yet she still wasn't happy that she had a gun aimed at her head and made her think he was actually going to kill her. "What if you were to be attacked by someone on this ship? Wouldn't you need something to defend against any intruder?"

"I'm aboard this ship as a guest." reminded Anthony, he would want to make sure that he can be trusted by someone like Rena even if it is by a little bit in due time. "It would be improper for me to have a loaded weapon." He then glanced at her face and let out a small sigh. "What do you want out of life?"

"What?" she asked in a serious voice before sitting down on her bed, though the question he said to her caught her off-guard. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Just a question from one person to another."

She paused for a moment and after a while, she said. "I just want to start a family of my own... Especially since I lost my previous family when I was younger..." Then she realized something and wondered. "What about you?"

"Start a family; having someone that will love you, it gives you a reason to live..." Anthony spoke with a single nod, feeling sad as he told her what he wanted in his life especially since he told her about what it was like earlier. "I long for the same. My father... and my little sister are the only ones that care but it's not the same as having a family of my own."

"Your little sister?" Rena was shocked by this and she wondered about what he's saying or if it's all true. "Does she have a name?"

"Her name is Lily" answered the former ZAFT commander; still sad as he thought of her whenever he remembered the day he left the PLANTs after the events at Endymoin. "My father adopted her."

"He did? What happened to her real parents?"

"They were killed in the war…." he explained to her as much as he could, though he's still worried about her ever since his defection. "It would have been inhuman for her to stay in an orphanage."

"Oh my god..." she couldn't believe what was hearing and she felt bad due to learning this revelation, wishing if there was a way she could help with that issue. "I hope to meet her someday."

Anthony smiled, "You'll like her, she's ten years old…." He said, starting to feel better from telling Rena about young Lily. "After all, not all Coordinators are against Naturals; myself especially."

"Wow..." said Rena in amazement, not knowing what else to say to the man next to her but was curious about his little sister even if she was adopted. "Where is she now?"

"Onboard the Blood Fang with my father" He told her again, knowing she needed to learn what is happening with the girl his father had taken in and the two men grew to care for her a lot.

"Huh? Why is she onboard a ship instead of being somewhere safe from the war?"

"The ship is currently the only safe place for her right now….." he answered, scowling at the idea of her remaining at his former home as long as Chairman Zala was still alive even if he was Chairman Clyne's friend. "It isn't safe in the PLANTs.."

"Is it because of Zala's plans?" she wondered, realizing that it isn't just about his recent turning on ZAFT due to what he had previously learned and it had something to do with family as well.

He nodded and said. "My Father doesn't want to put her in Danger."

"Good idea... At least it would be better than having her with someone who wants to wipe out every Natural." She saw that he wasn't looking at her anymore as he was once again bothered. "You're still worried about her aren't you?"

"She's a little girl. You would be the same way if it was your younger sibling…." explained Anthony…. Wishing that he can see Lily again and make sure that she's fine since the Blood Fang is also being hunted down by ZAFT.

"I see... Maybe you need some time alone for a while..." she got up and left the room, she was really feeling worried about him while wishing there was a way to make him feel better. "I'll go and get something for you if you want…."

"Rena?" he called after her, making the woman stop on her tracks at the sound of his voice even if he was saddened of having to explain the situation with Lily.

What do you want now?"

"You don't have to leave." He said softly getting up to go to where she was standing right now. "Being alone... is not a good idea for me."

"You want me to stay with you? Is that what you're asking?" she asked, becoming surprised by what he was saying.

"If you don't mind Rena." he gave her a smile.

She thought about it for a moment and after a while she spoke. "Very well... I'll stay at least until you feel better." She found herself smiling back at him.

"You know. You're a kind woman when you're not acting heartless" he replied, speaking nothing but the truth and smiled even more when he saw the small blush on her face as soon as he told her.

"You're not just saying that are you?"

"No" he spoke again, shaking his head and sensing some actual affection inside of her even though she's trying to hide them but it not doing a good job at doing so. "You're beautiful."

Rena found herself blushing once again when he said that, no one ever said that before especially before she joined the military. Then again, she hadn't been into boys when she was younger. "In that case, thank you for the complement."

"In any case…" he smiled. "Why don't we get something to eat at the cafeteria… If you don't mind going there together of course."

"Maybe…. You know what? I wouldn't be against this at all." Without any argument, the White Wolf held her hand and led her to the cafeteria. For once, Rena was actually happy though she didn't want to show it at all.

Maria went to Flay's room, she hoped that she was feeling a little better about losing her father and knocked on the door. "Flay…. Honey, are you there?" she asked while wondering if she would answer the door. "Hello?"

Fortunately, the red-haired girl opened the door and it surprised her. "Hi mom… What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check on you…" answered the older woman, running her hand through her own red hair and went into the room. "You still feeling upset about what happened to your father?"

"A little… though I'm not as upset as I was before…" she replied to her mother and from the look of it, she was wondering about what she had learned from Milly back when she first woke up and learned about her father's death. "Have you seen Kira lately?"

"No I haven't…." frowned Maria, though he did feel bad about having been unable to stop George's death from happening. "You could see if he's in the cafeteria…. He's really down on himself since that battle."

"Oh no…" gasped Flay at dismay, she hoped that he was alright and wouldn't do anything to hurt himself in the process. "Thanks mom…" She quickly left the room in a hurry and Maria due to her mother's instinct, decided to go after her in order to make sure she would be alright and see if he's feeling better about the failed mission as well.

* * *

Kira entered the cafeteria, he was feeling a little better after his talk with Elle but he was still sad over the fact that he failed to protect Flay's father and that he didn't want to have to go see her without her yelling at him. . That wasn't all, he was thinking about his battle against Rau earlier and he couldn't get it out of his head. He also felt that he met him before but with no clue on why. Meanwhile Anthony was enjoying a meal with Rena while smiling that being around the black-haired woman made him feel better, of course he saw that the younger male noticed and approached him cautiously then with a small sigh, he said. "Excuse me..."

The wolf stood up and said. "Something I can do for you Kira?"

"Not exactly but... I have a lot of things on my mind."

"Like what?" he asked with curiosity in his eyes.

Kira didn't look him in the eye as the two sat down at the table across from where the older man sat before. "It's about what happened earlier... I can't believe I failed to save Flay's father..."

"That burden isn't yours to bare alone my friend." This caught Kira off guard and he didn't know what to say or how to respond to what he heard as the White Wolf with a serious expression continued. "I got stuck dealing with the other machines, Rena was putting shots where they were needed, it was a real crappy situation."

"I see... Then there's what happened with Lacus Clyne afterwards, was it part of the actions the Earth Alliance when they're in a situation like this?"

"The Instinct to survive can be a powerful thing; It makes you do crazy things. I'm not Defending Natarle's actions in the slightest." Anthony explained

The younger male sighed then spoke "Well I just hope Lacus will be alright..." he paused while thinking about what else to say. "I didn't see her in her quarters when I went to check on her."

The White Wolf smiled gently his white and blue cameo patterned uniform shifting slightly, "One of the ZAFT pilots came to collect her."

"What? How and when did this happen?" he asked in disbelief. "Who was it that picked her up? Was it Athrun?"

"No it was Sasuke Blaze."

"Huh?" wondered Kira, he never heard of that name before and wondered how he was able to get onboard the Archangel and take Lacus. "When did he get on the Archangel?"

"A few hours ago..." Anthony spoke simply.

"How did he manage to get onboard the ship?" asked Kira, still confused about what happened before.

"We let him onboard with the sole purpose to collect the young woman…" he replied to the young Coordinator and smiled as he did so. "He is actually her boyfriend and he would die to make sure she wouldn't."

"I see..." Kira turned away and remembered when he fought against the CGUE earlier, which leads to the question of how Athrun didn't fight him this time. "Oh yeah, there was a CGUE I went up against earlier and the pilot wasn't like Athrun at all."

"Hmmm..." frowned the White Wolf, wondering about the pilot of the CGUE that Kira had fought when he tried to defend the Montgomery back in space. "Explain."

"Well... I could sense his presence then when I fought him... It was like he wanted to know how skilled I was and I barely held my own against him... Then before he retreated he after destroying the ship Flay's father was on he said his name was Rau Le Creuset…." He looked up at the White Wolf then spoke again. "I was glad that I didn't have to fight Athrun."

Anthony froze when the younger male mentioned the name Rau Le Creuset. "You're lucky my friend and I mean REAL lucky."

"What's wrong and what do you mean I was lucky?" Kira didn't like the sound of this and it could mean trouble if he ever fought against the pilot again not to mention that he's still glad that he didn't have to fight Athrun since it would bother him if he did.

"Except for Mu La Flaga, Rau has successfully killed any target he's ever fought in combat" explained Anthony with a scowl on his face. "I should know, I've seen him do so back when I was still part of ZAFT and he hasn't changed one bit…" he then glanced back at Kira and said. "Don't worry about it too much and my advice to you... Go speak to Flay."

"You really think I should do it huh?" he was still unsure of whether or not he should though he thinks she wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore after the loss of her father and all so he thought it would be best if he stayed away from her from now on despite it hurting him inside.

"It would make her feel better…" replied Anthony, his smile still there and he was sure that Kira had genuine feelings for the red-haired girl so he might help out with his situation if possible.

"I hope you're right..."

"I know I am." Upon hearing that…Kira wondered what to say then he looked at the White Wolf, knowing he was right about this. Of course, it might take some time before he could find her but it will be a risk to take in order to see if she is angry with him or not.

"Alright... I'll go find her..." Fortunately, he didn't need to look as Flay finally arrived cafeteria, noticing the two sitting together. "Flay?"

Anthony remained silent and smiled, knowing that the two will need to be alone so he went back to the table where Rena was currently sitting at while Flay sat next to Kira then said. "Kira? Are you alright?"

"Not really" he said, not looking at her and was still nervous while at the same time wondering why she came to the cafeteria. "I was just thinking about some stuff lately."

"Like about earlier?"

"Yeah," said Kira while nodding his head, although it made her look at her and was surprised by what she asked of him as well as if she knew that he failed in keeping his promise. "How do you know?"

"A lucky guess" replied Flay with a shrug, but a bit worried about how he is feeling right now and was wondering how she can help him with that. "Can you tell me?"

He laughed a bit before looking at the red-haired girl with a serious expression. "That's not all I'm thinking about" he sighed and remembered what the CGUE did to her father and everyone else in the Montgomery's bridge. "The pilot of the CGUE I went up against, he wasn't like the one from the Debris Belt, he also knew who I am."

"Very strange…."

"I know" he looked more depressed when thinking about that confrontation. "I'm thankful I didn't have to fight against Athrun again…"

"Athrun, as in the pilot of the Aegis and your best friend?" she asked with a hint of curiosity, hoping that it was the enemy pilot of one of the 4 stolen Heliopolis Gundams though wondered about the CGUE pilot he fought.

The brown-haired male remained completely silent and slowly nodded his head. "Well why don't you lay down?" suggested the younger teenager. "It might help you get your mind off it."

"I'll think about that" he said in an almost soft tone. "How are you doing so far?"

"I'm okay; I think mom took my dad's death the hardest."

"I see..." he closed his eyes with a hint of shame on his face. "I'm really sorry about not being able to save your father; I should have stopped that CGUE before it could fire… I allowed him to take the life of one of your family members…"

"It's not you're fault."

Kira took another glance at Flay after she said that. "I want to do what I can so we survive this, I won't let you down again."

"I know Kira but don't put so much pressure on yourself…" the young girl started smiling sincerely at him. Watching from outside of the cafeteria was her mother and she was glad that things were turning out great between the two.

"I won't; don't worry about it…. and thanks Flay…."

Flay stood up, grabbing one of Kira's arms, causing him to start blushing slightly, and led him out, "Lets get you into bed…" she told him with a light smile though she wouldn't be paying attention as she accidentally tripped and Kira was able to catch her though he felt her lips on top of his, making the two blush furiously at this and Maria was surprised when she saw that they had their mouths touching each other. Needless to say, neither of them knew what to say about that. "I'm sorry about that…. I didn't…."

"It's alright…." He reassured her, knowing that it was an accident and that she didn't know that she would trip on something when he was being taken back to his room. He was glad when he saw her smiling nervously.

* * *

However at the bridge, the crew was on full alert and regrettably there was going to be trouble as Pal detected something on the scanner. "Captain… there are 3 large heat-sources approaching… N-Jammer levels increasing!"

"What?" wondered Murrue in disbelief and realized that it could mean trouble, especially since the Archangel was close to arriving at Lunar Headquarters as well. "Can you identity them?"

"Hold on…. It's a Nazca-class and two Laurasia-classes; they've launched six mobile suits!"

"You don't mean…." Natarle didn't finish what she was going to say as she realized that if those ships only sent six mobile suits, then that meant that it can only be the same team that is after them.

"I do…" frowned Pal with a nod, answering the ensign's unfinished question. "The enemy mobile suits are 2 CGUEs and the Duel, the Buster, the Blitz and the Aegis…"

"I should have guessed…." Murrue doesn't like the sound of that as now she and Natarle knew that it really is the same team attacking them once again and hopefully they can survive this battle. "All hands, level-one battlestations!"

* * *

Back in the cafeteria, Anthony mentally cursed when the alarm went off throughout the entire ship. "I should have known this would happen…" he said darkly upon noticing that Kira was already leaving the cafeteria and then glanced at Rena. "We better get ready, knowing Rau… he would be out there as well!"

"Got it!" Rena joined the White Wolf towards the exit of the cafeteria. However along the way, Kira accidentally bumped into someone and it was none other than the girl he had previously spoken to from when he was upset over failing in his mission earlier.

"Are you okay Elle?" he asked, he was just about to help her back up when Flay did it for him.

"I'm so sorry… Kira was making his way to the hanger and he didn't see you…" she told Elle with a worried expression on her face though she smile at the little girl bellow her and spoke. "We're entering another battle but Kira will be there to protect us."

"Really?"

"Yes really…" she replied with a nod while helping Elle back onto her feet and Kira was glad to see that happen before continuing the path he took before. It was then that Maria met up with her daughter and it made the younger red-head surprised. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you're alright…" answered the older woman with a smile on her face as she approached the younger woman. "By the way… I saw the kiss you had with Kira earlier…"

"You did? Well I…. um…"

Maria laughed at her daughter's slight embarrassment. "Don't worry, I was like that when I first met your father…" she said and wondered about something she has been meaning to ask. "Do you love him?"

"Well he is actually kinda cute…" she didn't know how to explain it to her and she knew that Kira doesn't know that she had feelings for someone else and it wasn't Sai either since their recent engagement was actually arranged. "However there is this one boy I have feelings for and I am nervous about how to explain it to Kira without hurting him…"

"Oh?" questioned the Prowler's captain, curiosity getting the better of her and wondered who the boy was as Flay is still confused on what she should do. "Does he have a name?"

"I never got his name as I met him at the park in Orb years ago when I was younger…" she explained with tears forming in her eyes as she began to reveal the day she met the boy. "We actually became friends on that day and we played together until it was time to go home…. Then I gave him my hairclip as a reminder as that day and I never saw him again because of what happened to you and I made a promise to one day find him and tell him how I feel."

"I see…" Maria didn't want to admit it but she wanted to make sure that her younger daughter had a happy life and she wishes to support her in any way possible. "If you want… I can help you in finding this boy as soon as the war is over…" Of course, neither red-heads noticed that Elle was shocked by Flay's story and remembered the one that Kira told her earlier.

"You will?" this shocked Flay and at the same time made her happy as well.

"Yes… You're my daughter and I want to make sure your happiness comes first as well as to make up for having left you when you were still young…."

"Thank you so much!" she was just about to hug her mother but she never got to do so as Elle was gently tugging at her pink dress. "What is it?"

"I heard your story… it sounds a lot similar to the one that Kira told me before…" explained the brown-haired girl. "He told me that he met a girl at the park you mentioned and how she was his very first friend before he received a hairclip she had as a reminder of that day… He was sad that he never saw that girl in the park again afterwards…."

"He did…" Flay had no idea that it happened to Kira as well but she suddenly realized something. "Hold on… What did the hairclip look like?"

"It was a light blue in color and it was shaped like a heart…." answered Elle, remembering what the hairclip looked like when Kira showed it to her. "It was also small in size."

"It can't be…." Flay froze in disbelief when she heard that as it was the exact same hairclip that she had given the boy she met years ago and if Kira said that he got it from a girl he befriended with in that same park… "Is it possible that all this time…"

"Are you okay?" wondered Elle, hoping that revealing that Kira told her didn't shock the older girl too much but knew that he will need to know when he returns to the ship as soon as the battle was over though she suspected that Flay is actually the girl he met years before and hopefully will be happy to find that out.

"I'm fine…" answered Flay, giving Elle a small smile then turned her attention back towards Maria and knew that there was something she wanted to do. "I need to go to the bridge as soon as possible… I want to see Kira in action again…"

Maria was surprised by this and was also at disbelief by what Elle had told her daughter before though right now wasn't the time to think on that especially when the Le Creuset Team is attacking. "Very well…" she said, understanding her child's choice and brought her to the bridge and Elle smiled when this happened though will need to meet up with her own mother before she gets worried sick about her.

* * *

Kira was already in the cockpit of the Strike just as it is loaded onto the starboard catapult and being equipped with the Aile Striker. "The enemy ships are the Nazca-class and the two Laurasia-classes and they've launched two CGUEs and all 4 stolen G-Weapons" explained Milly, revealing the information of the enemy to her friend. "Be careful, this time things will end up differently…"

"I understand…" said Kira, nodding as systems went all green and he launched from the ship followed by Mu's Moebius Zero from the portside catapult with the Blue Destiny and Anthony's GINN LRRT following close behind. From the Prowler, 3 GINNs were sent hurling into space in order to help defend both ships from the enemy.

Leading the way to the two enemy vessels, Rau hailed the rest of his team. "Remember to leave the Strike to me, destroy the Legged Ship and its allies… do I make myself clear?"

"Understood…." Athrun slowly nodded while at the same time hating the idea of allowing his commander to fight his best friend as the Gamow opened fire from behind, the attack aimed directly at the Archangel. Of course, the blue-haired pilot hoped that Kira would last against the CGUE as he went into mobile armor attack mode and fired the Scylla at the GINN LRRT.

Of course, he knew that the former ZAFT machine will avoid the attack and he saw it aiming at one of the other mobile suits before firing. Shiho bit her lower lip as she barely avoided the attack however Yzak was preoccupied with fighting the Blue Destiny, which was giving him a hard time. To make matters worse, she as well as Athrun and Nicol each had to deal with a GINN belonging to the White Wolves and they're equipped with beam weaponry.

Nicol activated the Mirage Colloid to make him harder to fight though the Archangel would provide cover fire for the GINNs and fired a missile which came apart to reveal multiple small missiles which forced the Blitz pilot to reveal himself in order to block it.

"That's right this machine originally belonged to you so of course you know its weakness" he commented while firing at the GINN he is fighting.

Meanwhile Mu was facing off against the Buster and normally his Moebius Zero's weapons wouldn't work on mobile suits with Phase Shift Armor but thanks to the modifications, he would be able to actually take on one of the stolen Gundams without much trouble. He scowled when Dearka combined his guns and fired a hyper impulse blast, which the Hawk narrowly managed to dodge it. "My turn!" He activated his remaining 3 units and fired them in different directions at the Buster.

"Dammit!" cursed Dearka, having a hard time with avoiding the beam shot at him and it managed to destroy one of the Buster's feet. "He's good…. For a Natural…" He soon fired his missiles at the mobile armor attacking him and it managed to destroy one of the Gunbarrels.

Kira was in front of the Archangel, though he did feel a familiar presence as the CGUE piloted by Rau made its way towards the ship and took out the Heavy sword while the Strike's pilot responded with one of the Strike's Beam Sabers. "I should have known he would be here…." He muttered to himself as he blocked a vertical slash from the CGUE even though it wouldn't affect Phase Shift but the problem is that the masked commander will not go down without a fight. However he felt the cockpit shake as soon as the CGUE kicked the Strike's chest. "Shit!"

"I'm disappointed Kira." Rau closed his eyes while scowling. "Is this what you got? You, a traitor to your fellow Coordinators and the one who killed several of my GINN pilots." The CGUE's anti-beam coated Heavy Sword met with the Strike's beam saber once more as the two Coordinators wanted to end this fight once and for all. "You have to do better than that to defeat me."

"Oh really?" Kira pushed with all his might but both pilots were evenly matched. "Why are you so interested in me?" he demanded.

"Let's just say that I want to know what you are fully capable of, especially since you are the only successful candidate from your father's program."

"Huh?" wondered the younger male in shock by what he heard but quickly snapped back into reality as he took out the Strike Beam Rifle and fired at the CGUE, only to see the emerald beams blocked by the anti-beam coated shield and the masked commander waited until Kira made his next move before using the heavy sword to ultimately slice the beam rifle in half. "Oh great…"

In the bridge, Flay and Maria had arrived and they saw that the Strike was recently doing battle with the CGUE in sword to saber combat. The Prowler's captain scowled upon knowing who the pilot was due to how skill the CGUE is fairing against the Gundam, unfortunately the ship wasn't given a break either due to the beams fired from the Galvani, the Gamow and the Vesalius. Of course Murrue noticed and she wasn't happy when she saw Flay. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a worried expression on her face. "Civilians aren't allowed in the bridge during combat!"

"She's with me!" explained Maria, she knew about regulation but since someone Flay knows is in battle the girl deserves to see what he is doing. "What's the status of the battle so far?"

"Not good… so far the 3 enemy ships are concentrating their firepower on the Archangel since the Prowler has the Lightwave shielding..."

"That's not good, I'll inform the Prowler to help defend the ship from the enemy vessels…" she told her. "Hopefully it will bide up some time… though at least we won't have to worry about the enemy mobile suits as our units are holding them off."

"Understood… give me contact with the Prowler at once!"

Anthony and Rena weren't liking the fact that the Galvani, the Gamow and the Vesalius were only firing at the Archangel as they knew that if this kept up, the entire ship would be destroyed. "I have an idea…" he told his co-pilot while realizing that there is a way to stop the Le Creuset Team ships before they succeed in their plan. "However it is a risky move…"

"What is it?" she asked, quite curious about what he had planned though she saw that they were now heading towards where the 3 ships were located. "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Trust me on this, aim at one of the ships attacking the Archangel…." He said sharply and hoped that the Sakura Burst would go through with the plan he came up with as if it worked, the Archangel would be saved. "When I give the signal, you fire!"

"Got it…" she didn't like where this is going as they could be attacked if she missed, she took aim at the bridge of the Galvani and waited a few seconds until a minute has passed.

"Now!" With that said, Rena fired and time slowed down as the crew and Johnson were about to attack only to see a beam that they could not avoid, resulting to their demise. She witnessed her attacks making not only its target but also hitting where the engine is which caused the entire ship to explode. "You did it!"

"Not quite, we still have the remaining two ships to deal with!" she reminded him while avoiding two beams from the Gamow and knew that it will be tough to bring down the remaining ship. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, the Aegis fired its beam rifle at the GINN LRRT and forcing them back a bit. "Looks like we have trouble!"

"Captain Ades…. We've lost signal from the Galvani!" said one of the crew members.

Ades found himself scowling at this turn of events as this would end any chance of victory against the enemy especially due to the Prowler joining in helping the defense of the Legged Ship and forced the Vesalius to evade fire. "Dammit…" he cursed. "Alert Commander Le Creuset and find the one who destroyed the Galvani! I want it shot down!"

As Kira continued to fight Rau, he was finding himself in a tough spot as he was soon informed of the destruction of one of the ZAFT ships at the hands of the White Wolf and the Sakura Burst. "Let's hope I can last a little longer…" he said to himself while blocking a beam shot from Rau's Beam Rifle. Just as he was about to fire again, he saw a message from Ades that the Galvani was destroyed and that neither the Vesalius nor the Gamow detected the one behind its fate.

"Damn that Russo…." cursed Rau as he and Kira moved out of the way of a beam fired from the Archnagel's Gottfrieds at the Gamow, though he will deal with the traitor later as right now he has a Gundam to take down and he was pleased when one of the White Wolves headed towards the area where the LRRT was located which will make things much easier for one of his pilots and by pure luck, Nicol had managed to land on top of the enemy warship and fired close to where the bridge is. "A shame this has come to this huh little Kira?"

"What are you saying?" he asked before he suddenly saw Milly on the screen and he knew this can't be good news if this was happening.

"Kira… we're in trouble! The Blitz is attacking the Archangel!"

He mentally cursed and tried to get to the ship, only to be cut off and attacked by Rau…. The CGUE pilot wasn't going to let his opponent go that easily despite what will happen if Kira doesn't make it back in time. Still… he can't repeat what had happened to the Montgomery, especially since his friends are onboard along with the refugees from the now destroyed Heliopolis as memories of his time with the others at his former home flashed before his eyes and how he saved Flay at Artemis was shown. "There is no way in hell I'm going to allow you to destroy the ship…. I can't fail again!" Suddenly an amethyst seed exploded in the back of Kira's mind and when he opened his eyes, they were now dilated.

Rau drew his Heavy Sword once again and performed a slash as the Strike remained motionless; he knows that it will only be a matter of time before the Strike ran out of energy and he intends to make sure that happens. What he never noticed was the Gundam's shield being raised to block the attack then a beam saber slash sliced of the hand holding the sword. "What the…" he never got to finish as the Strike fired its CIWS onto the CGUE before taking off.

"Commander!" yelled Yzak, about ready to bisect the Earth Alliance Gundam but his attacked missed and his own machine was stabbed in the torso. "You bastard!" The Duel's pilot switched to his beam rifle and tried to shoot down his target only to see his beams missing.

As Nicol continued to attack the Archangel, he failed to see that the Strike was heading straight for him and by the time he detected it…. he was kicked off of the ship. At this time, Yzak was again ready to destroy the unit though Kira's response was taking out one of the Armor Schneiders and impaling it where he had previously stabbed the Duel. This caused the cockpit to short circuit and a small explosion hit Yzak.

"No Yzak!" yelled Shiho, catching the Duel and was worried about the pilot inside of it as she said. "Are you okay? Please respond!"

"It burns! It burns!" Yzak was clutching his face as the glass of his helmet was shattered by the explosion and blood was coming out of the part where he had his hands on. Inside her CGUE, Shiho soon detected something approaching as there were red lights from behind the Archangel and the Prowler. "Commander, we have trouble! The enemy fleet is coming!"

The masked commander didn't like how things were turning out and he knew that right now his team was at a disadvantage with more Earth Alliance ships making their way towards the area. He then hailed the pilots and said. "We're pulling out!" Just as the CGUE was about to leave, he turned to the Strike. "Don't think this is over Kira Yamato!"

The Earth Alliance Gundam, landed on top of the Archangel and Kira was tired from the fighting that took place. "They're gone… you were terrific kid…" Mu hailed the younger pilot as the Zero, the 3 GINNs and the GINN LRRT joined up with it. "No you're more than that… you're unbelievable…"

* * *

"The Eighth Fleet is finally here…" Maria was relieved they've made it and she glanced at Flay, who's glad to see that Kira's okay as there was something that the younger girl needed to talk to him about. "If you want to see him, then go for it…."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course…" answered the older red-head, hugging her daughter and nodded as it was now time for her to have the fateful talk with the one who might have been someone she had met before. Then once they separated, the younger female left the bridge since Kira, Anthony, Rena and Mu already returned to the ship. "Now Murrue, there is something you and I will need to discuss about but not right now…. I'll be at my daughter's quarters and will let you know when its time…."

Remaining silent, Murrue gave a simple nod yet she was wondering what this talk will be about as well as if it concerns the White Wolves in any way. Still she knew that it was time for the crew to rest as they've finally met up with their allied fleet.

* * *

Five minutes later, Kira was back in his uniform and he laid on the bed in his room, the lights were off and his mind was spinning. He was still having thoughts on the whole situation of having to keep fighting in the mobile suit and protect the ship, but for some reason the accidental kiss he had with flay had become his main thought. To him, Flay was the only girl he had ever wanted to kiss and now he had. It was by accident of course but now he had mixed feelings. Flay knew it was an accident too but he couldn't help but wonder if she had felt nothing when they kissed. A part of not being able to know what she felt was eating him up and he was starting to feel really bad about it.

Just then the door to his room slid open and Flay was on the other side with her right hand on her chest. "Kira, do you mind if we talk?"

"Flay… sure, come in" said Kira with a small sigh.

She entered and sat down on the bed next to him while looking slightly nervous about what she was about to say him. "Kira…." She stopped to think about it for a moment and after a few seconds, she continued. "We need to talk about what happened back in the cafeteria earlier."

This made him realize that she wanted to talk to him about the kiss and he replied. "Think nothing of it, it was just an accident. We just need to move on and…."

"You need to stop the tough guy act" she said with a serious expression on her face with her arms crossed before softening up again. "Miriallia told me about how…. How you really about me."

Kira stiffed up and his cheeks were blushing dark red to match Flay's hair. _That's just great_ he thought, not wanting to believe it. He had enough of Tolle having tried to reveal his feelings for Flay back at Heliopolis and now Mir had revealed them to the one person he had been trying to hide them from. "She did?" he asked her, lowering his head. "I can explain…" he didn't get to finish before Flay interrupted.

"Kira, I have to be honest with you about something. You are kinda cute and you're a very good person, one of the most kind and caring people I have ever met but I don't think you want to be involved with someone like me."

"What do you mean?" asked Kira.

"I used to have a crush on this boy when I was little. He was kind of like you, kind and caring but I never told him that I liked him," answered Flay, feeling sad as she remembered the day she met someone special to her. "I never saw him again after that day, I guess part of me still has feelings for him and I can't fully get past knowing that I do have these feelings but still…."

Kira understood what she meant, it hurt him to know that Flay was saying that she couldn't be in a relationship with him because she had feelings for another person but he wasn't going to bother her if that was what she wanted. "I understand, you need to sort things out" he smiled at her.

"Thank you Kira" said Flay, giving him a small hug, though she placed her head under his neck and he returned the embrace. He guessed that it would be the last hug she would ever give him. Though it was then that she spoke once again and she remembered something important. "I also spoke with the little girl you accidentally bumped into earlier… She told me about the story you told her before hearing my story and…" She never finished what she was going to say as they slowly let go of each other as something else happened. "Huh?" she wondered, seeing her hair caught on something.

The brown-haired male saw that her hair was caught on the clip he had around his neck and he carefully removed it. Upon seeing the hair-clip, her eyes widened in shock and she asked. "How did you get my hair-clip?"

"Huh?" wondered Kira, surprised that she would react that way. "I received this as a gift from a girl I met years ago, I never saw her again but I kept it as a reminder of her so how can it be yours…." Just then he suddenly realized something. "Unless…. You're the girl I met that day in Orb."

This shocked her when she heard that and looked into his eyes; it was after looking deep enough she gasped. "That means…. It is true… You…." She was trying to finish her sentence despite the revelation she had learned. "You are that boy all along…" She couldn't hold in her emotions any longer as she latched onto him while crying.

"Shhh…. It's okay…." He told her while stroking the back of her head in a soothing matter and before he knew it, she moved up towards his face with tear-stricken eyes and kissed his lips… Marking their first real kiss and this time it wasn't by accident.

A/Ns: Well I finally got this chapter done and it only took more about a year to do so due to my real life problems. Hopefully I can get more updates done much sooner than I currently have plus I hope it is good enough for you and I'm sorry for any errors on my part.


	13. Phase 12: Flay's Decision

Disclaimer: I do not own anything save for my OC while Wingcommander WhiteWolf owns his, including Zavier and Marie Yukari.

Gundam Seed DX

Phase 12: Flay's Decision

By EmperorDraco7

Kira slowly began waking up, feeling at peace for the first time in a long while since before Heliopolis was destroyed. His eyes weren't completely open yet but he felt a weight on his chest, something fuzzy rubbing against his face and something around his neck. What's more is that there was a strong intoxicating small in the room. Upon opening his eyes, he saw something that he didn't think he would see in his life. Sleeping on top of him was Flay, her red hair was scattered wildly around his chest with her head resting on it and her arms were wrapped around him. _What the…_ he thought in shock, the two were naked under the sheets and were hugging each other. The last thing he could remember clearly was that he and Flay had been talking and then her hair got caught on his chain and everything else was a bit fuzzy to him. _What am I going to do? Did I force this on her? What if she hates me? _He began thinking about what the young girl's reaction will be before hearing her stir.

She slowly opened her eyes and felt cold even with the sheets covering her. She slowly took notice to her surroundings, raising her head off Kira's chest with her hair hanging off and brushing off his face before looking into his eyes. He looked shocked for some reason. "Kira?" she quietly asked him.

"I'm sorry Flay; I didn't mean to do this…. I swear I would never force myself on you…." He didn't get to finish what he was going to say as Flay's lips went down and caught his own in a kiss. It seemed to do the job as the brown-haired male went completely silent. After a few seconds, they separated from the kiss and Flay smiled with a giggle.

"You must have really enjoyed last night if you can remember clearly" she said softly to him.

Kira thought about it for a moment as he remembered last night and how the whole realization with the hairclip had brought them together so quickly, leading to the night's events. "We really slept together…. Willingly?" he asked.

"Yes" said Flay as she rolled off of him and laid on his left side, placing her head back on his chest. "This is the first time I slept so peacefully since this whole thing started and I don't mean because of what we did last night. The pattern of your heartbeats was like a calming sound to me. I felt a bit better, knowing that you were right there next to me."

Kira was glad to hear that, relieving him a bit. "So where do we go from here?"

"Well despite what I said before, now that I know you're that same boy from before I want to try and have something with you, of course if you still want to." Flay said with a smile on her face.

"Of course, I want to give this a shot as well" replied Kira with a light smile on his face, gently hugging the girl he loved.

Flay smiled back. "You know…" She paused for a moment and remembered when she first met him years ago. "You haven't changed a bit in all these years. You're still the boy that means what he says and stays on it."

"You really think so?" he wondered, looking into Flay's blue eyes to see that she hadn't changed since that day as well.

"Yeah, because all this time I've been talking you've been concentrating on my face instead of…. Other places" she answered while stroking his hair.

"Huh?" asked Kira before realizing what she was saying as he didn't notice that the sheet wasn't fully covering her chest. He soon turned red and looked away with Flay admiring the respect he was giving her. After a minute, he spoke. "We better get up and cleaned up, we can't stay in bed all day."

"You're right" answered Flay with a nod. "Also both my mom and your parents are on this ship and if either of them came looking for us and found us like this, we'd have to answer some question."

He sighed at that and said. "Good point, plus Aya would never let me live it down that I have a girlfriend now." This made Flay blush slightly; she liked the sound of being Kira's girlfriend. True, they had gone past that with the previous night's actions but still, she enjoyed being called that. She then got out of bed and stood up, stretching her arms and Kira began to follow but he smelt something weird in the air. "Why is there a slight scent of blood in the room?"

"Kira, you are aware of what happens the first time a woman…" she saw his confusion and began whispering everything into his ear, making him turn red.

"What?! I didn't hurt you did I?" Kira asked a little freighted he had hurt Flay

In response, she kissed him. "You're too caring but that's what I like about you" she then walked towards the shower room that he had in his private quarters before turning around to face him. "Well are you coming to take a shower or not?"

"You want me to take a shower… with you?" asked Kira, looking surprised and watching her sigh at his reaction.

_This is going to take some getting used to_ she thought to herself but she smile at Kira being her boyfriend.

* * *

Kira followed her into the bathroom and as he removed his clothes and then into the shower. The water began pouring down on them from the shower head and Flay had already begun to scrub herself with the soap. The young male was still nervous as he stood next to her as he also tried to clean himself. He couldn't understand why he was so nervous to be naked in the shower with her. They had slept together last night, so why was he so nervous by this and the fact that he kept staring at Flay's body from head to toe wasn't helping either. In his mind, the water gleaming off her body and its curves and her hair all wet was really a distraction than anything else.

"Kira, do you mind washing my back for me?" asked Flay.

"Uh, I mean sure," he said quickly as she handed him a luffa and he began to wash her back. As he began to wash her back, the girl was having thoughts of her own. Part of herself still couldn't believe that Kira was that same little boy she met years ago, she couldn't believe that they ended up meeting again in this situation, and she couldn't believe that she had had sex with him the previous night, and now they were both sharing the shower.

Her mother would no doubt judge her for what she had just done as she was still 15 but another part of her had felt so right having done so with him. It was as if they were two pieces of something that had been separated long ago from each other, and now they wanted to make up for lost time. Though she could also notice that Kira was still not fully use to being around her in the current situation they were in. "Kira, why aren't you looking at me right now?" asked Flay with a worried expression on her face.

He stopped washing her back as she asked him that, then said, "Sorry, it's just that I never had a girlfriend before, so I assumed you didn't want me to stare at your body all the time, I don't want to make you think I'm only interested in you for sexual reasons."

Flay smiled, it seemed that Kira would always treat her with respect, not many men would do that fully for a girl.

He was still so busy in his chat that he didn't realize that she had turned around and instead of having his hands washing her back; they were now on her chest. The male Coordinator saw what he was touching now, but she pulled his hands close and then took his lips on to her own, then rubbing her chest against his.

Pulling away from the kiss, he then asked her, "Flay, how come you trust me so much?"

"I don't know," said Flay, smiling at him sincerely. "I think it's because of what happen at Artemis. When the soldier almost raped me, I was really scared. He was going to force himself on me, but you saved me. What's more is that you saw me naked there, and didn't stare even after you took him out. You just took me to your room and watched to make sure nothing else happened to me. But I woke up a few times in the night, and you were still asleep to the side of the bed watching out for me, you could have taken advantage of me while I slept, but you didn't. Maybe that's what made me to trust you," she added, giving him another deep kiss. Kira began to understand fully why the red-haired girl had trusted him, and returned the kiss. Neither of them spoke more, as the passion of their kiss made them decide to continue their activities from the last night, right there in the shower.

A little later Kira was putting back on his uniform, and Flay had finished putting on her dress and was brushing her hair in a mirror. "Guess that's the best I can do with this brush," she said.

"You look beautiful no matter what," said Kira, hugging her from behind.

"Guess you're not too nervous around me anymore."

"I guess not," said Kira, slowly nodding his head and then turned to his bed for a few second before glancing back at her. "Do you regret anything from last night?

"No I don't," said Flay smiling sweetly until something came to her mind. "I had a somewhat "relieved" dream last night."

"About what," asked Kira while raising an eyebrow.

"Remember the park where we first met?"

"You mean in Orb, yeah I remember" said Kira.

"In my dream, I was back there at that park, at the sandbox where we use to play. I saw a little girl with red hair, and she had my hairclip in her hair" replied Flay, gently stroking her boyfriend's brown hair.

"You were having a flashback then?" asked Kira, looking a bit confused by what she was currently telling him.

"No, cause I was there next to her as myself, and I was older. She was looking at me with violet eyes, and I picked her up, she called me…well she called me mama." answered Flay.

"Some dream, what do you think it means?" asked Kira as he cocked his head to the left a bit.

"I don't know, but it was peaceful." said Flay, closing her eyes and remembering the dream she had.

Half an hour later after talking some more, Kira stuck his head out the door and gave a clear signal for Flay to come out. They began to sneak around the corridors as they got some distance and then stopped to catch their breath before they both realized that they were holding each other's hand. They blushed at each other before Kira said. "We're really bad at this aren't we?"

"Yeah" said Flay, shaking the blush off and looking around to make sure that nobody was watching them. "We're just going to have to get used to it though."

He nodded his head slowly at that. "I better get back to taking care of the Strike and you better let your mom know that you're okay."

"Alright…." said Flay, looking a bit sad.

"What's wrong?"

She let out a small sigh and sadly looked at her new boyfriend. "I know we just became a couple but knowing that we were separated years ago as well…." She thought about what she was going to say next as it did upset her that she never saw Kira for 8 years. "I just feel like I don't want to see you be away from me…. You must think I'm being silly don't you?"

He thought about it and gave her a sincere smile. "Close your eyes" he spoke in a gentle tone in which she did just that after doing so, she felt his hands on her head. "Okay, you can open them now." The red-haired girl opened her eyes and took a look at her reflection in one of the terminals of the ship's corridors. There in her hair was her old hairclip, the one that had started it all years ago. "Now you have something I treasured for years with you to show that I'm always with you."

Flay smiled and sheds a small tear. "Thank you Kira…." She kissed him passionately on the lips, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug as he wrapped his own arms around her waist, wanting to savor this moment.

SNAP

The sound of a shutter got their attention and they turned to see a little girl with a palm camera. "I knew it" said Aya as she held her palm camera and ran off down the corridor with a grin.

"Aya!" yelled Kira, watching his little sister taking off and groaned while placing a hand on his forehead. "Great, now she's going to tell my parents before I do."

"Well that's something we're also going to have to get used to, your sister catching us in these moments" said Flay. "Though I would prefer if my mom heard it from me first, I want to make sure she approves of who I want to be with."

"Okay" he nodded his head as they shared another kiss before going their separate ways.

From another corridor, **Hibiki** and **Dimensia** were watching as their counterparts separated. "Looks like I have another sister in this world" said the former, having taken note to Aya's existence.

"Not necessarily, we don't know the full details about this world yet" replied the latter with a serious expression on her face.

"Well we better get busy before the Fallen Ones show up" they quickly got to work on getting data about the world they're currently in.

* * *

The crew of the Archangel was relieved that the Eighth Fleet had arrived, especially for one Captain Murrue Ramius. Though while they had finally linked-up with allied forces, the brown-haired woman was wondering about the Heliopolis students as they helped the ship make it this far since Heliopolis.

"Well it looks like your Fleet has arrived." Came a familiar strong voice, causing Murrue to turn her attention to see that Anthony had just arrived at the bridge, donning his Orb uniform.

"I can see that... Still, I wonder about what will happen with the students at Heliopolis... especially Kira."

"I understand your concern captain" he explained while knowing that it would only be a matter of time before the civilians eventually leave the ship and return to their normal lives. "But there is no way to tell at this point."

"I know... Where is Kira right now?" she asked, a bit curious to know where the Strike pilot is at the moment as there was something she needs to tell him.

"His quarters." Anthony confirmed, having remembered where he had last been seen after the battle earlier though he never thought the younger pilot would have held his own against one of ZAFT's ace commanders.

"I see... Is he alright?"

The White Wolf smirked, "I cannot comment on that Captain."

This made the Archangel Captain wonder what he was talking about though she was about to say something else when one of the crew members interrupted. "Captain, we've received word that Admiral Halberton wishes to come onboard the Archangel personally."

"I wonder how he's going to react?" wondered the former ZAFT ace, fixing his glasses a bit as he said that. "Captain Allster and I are still on board, and there are two ZAFT machines in the hanger."

"I'm not really sure myself... Wait a minute, what do you mean two ZAFT machines in the hanger? I thought only your GINN Long Range Recon Type was the only ZAFT mobile suit..."

"That's right..." he remembered something important and glanced at the raven-haired Ensign nearby. "Natarle didn't tell you did she?"

"Tell me what?" wondered Murrue, she wasn't sure what he was talking about and she needed to know.

"I had my BuCUE brought on board."

"Wait... is this true?" she asked in disbelief, only to see a simple nod was his response though there was more things on her mind because of that. "How and more importantly when did you bring your BuCUE onboard?"

"I plan to stay with you for a while, even with the Blue Destiny, the Strike and the Moebius Zero with you, you're still outgunned." answered the White Wolf. "As for how we did it after the last battle…. had to do it in a hurry though."

"I see..." frowned the brown-haired woman, though she had wondered how he managed to bring a BuCUE from Earth in the first place. "Still, we will need to focus on what we are to do now."

"Understood…." He said, knowing that it would be a matter of time before the Archangel would have to go to Earth. "With your permission Captain, I would bring the BuCUE's turrets over as well."

"Very well..." said the Captain, knowing that they could use all the help they could get so it didn't really matter. Without saying anything, Anthony nodded and headed to the hanger which led to Natarle rising from her seat so she can speak to Murrue about something.

"Captain!" she called out to her superior as she was about to check up on the younger Coordinator. "I know that I shouldn't be asking this but do you have any plans for the Strike?"

"What plans?"

Remaining silent for a few seconds, she thought of what to say next and eventually she spoke. "Everyone on the ship knows that we've only be able to make it this far because of the mobile suit and the fact that he was piloting it..." she noticed that Murrue was starting to get where she's talking about before continuing. "Are you letting him go too?" As the elevator stopped, she saw the captain leaving. "Captain!"

"I understand how you feel but Kira isn't an Earth Alliance soldier…" she explained to the black-haired woman with her.

"I know that…. But his skills are invaluable to us and we cannot afford to lose them!"

"Regardless of what potential he can bring to the military, we can't force him to volunteer" she said sternly, knowing that he is only helping them until they're out of harm's way and it looks like the time has come as she went to see how he is doing right now. However it didn't take too long as she found him floating to the cafeteria with Flay and called out to him. "Kira!"

"Captain?" wondered Kira, surprised to see the ship's captain approaching the two of them and he said. "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to see if you're doing well and I wanted to have a word with you if that's alright of course." She spoke, a smile formed on her face when she did so and wanted to say something to him before he decides to leave with the rest of the civilians onboard the ship though he was a bit suspicious. "Don't give me that look, though I can't blame you for it." This news made him wonder what she's talking about without saying a word and noted for Flay to allow them to speak alone, with a nod she decided to give them some time to talk a bit. "The reason I've come is that I can thank you properly this time… I've put you through a great deal of hardship earlier but I'm truly grateful for what you've done for us."

"Captain…"

"I've put a lot on your shoulders and made you give us your all, I can't thank you enough…" she said, briefly bowing to him and made him unsure of what to say to her afterwards…. "The others may not say it in person but they're grateful to you as well, I wish the best of luck to you."

Kira was nearly unable to say anything as he shook Murrue's hand to confirm that it was an honor to work alongside her.

* * *

Almost an hour latter, a shuttle from the Agamemnon-class ship the Menelaos has recently entered the Archangel's hanger with the crew and the Heliopolis students waiting to greet Admiral Halberton himself. Sure enough, the Admiral and Captain Eric Hoffman exited. "When I heard about the collapse of Heliopolis, I'd thought it was the end" he said, glad to see that the crew made it safe and sound. "What a joy to see you here."

"You do us a tremendous honor" smiled Murrue, more than happy to see the Admiral. "It is a pleasure to see you again."

"I was a bit worried, when we detected that you were in a battle earlier" began Halberton with some concern and took notice towards the rest of the ship's crew. "Is everyone alright?"

Natarle reported in to him and said. "Ensign Natarle Badgiruel."

"I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, formerly of the 7th orbital fleet" Mu was the next to step in to introduce himself to the Admiral.

"Ah… we were fortunate to have you and Instructor Rena Imelia with us" he turned to notice the Heliopolis students themselves then said. "Who might we have over here?"

"These are the students from Heliopolis." explained Murrue, commenting that if it wasn't for them then none of the crew members would even make it to the Fleet. "They've been helping with the operation of the ship."

"We've done some checking on the families of each one of you and everyone is safe" said Admiral Halberton, causing the students themselves to be relieved at the good news they were given. "We'd like to extend our gratitude for your assistance and I'd like to give my thanks as well."

"Admiral Halbrton!" Came Anthony's voice as the White Wolf and Maria approached the two senior EA officers. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Anthony Russo and with me is Captain Maria Allster of the Blizzard Prowler."

"So… you're the infamous Artic White Wolf huh?" the Admiral was surprised at first but a smile formed on his face. "I've heard about you but I didn't think that we would meet in person."

Hoffman stepped in and said. "Sir, we don't have much time."

"In any case, I'd be delighted that later we could have the opportunity sit down together and talk" he took his leave, though Anthony knew that it was only a matter of time before something happens.

* * *

Onboard the Vesalius, Rau and Ades where surprised by the events that were taking place but needless to say… it also intrigued the masked commander. "So the enemy fleet hasn't detected us." He began, finding it a bit strange.

"No sir, so far they're descending to lower orbit" explained the captain, which caused Rau to float to the map screen not too far from where they were.

"I'd thought that the Legged Ship would be headed for their Lunar Headquarters" he said to himself, understanding what it was planning to do. "However after recessing their movements, I believe that they will be landing on Earth."

"Their intended target appears to be Alaska…" frowned Ades, which means that the EA warship will be headed there soon once they get the supplies it needed since it's escape from Heliopolis.

"I'd somehow like to finish them off while they're still in space" said Rau before turning his attention towards the ship's captain as he cannot allow for their target to successfully reach Earth. "What say you?"

"The Ziegler has six GINNs, we have five machines including the Aegis and your CGUE while the Gamow can deploy the Buster and the Blitz as well as the CGUE of Shiho Hanhefuss."

Rau began grinning as he looked at the map-screen, looking forward to this upcoming assault on the fleet itself. "The Infamous Halberton, it's time the Admiral takes his final curtain call."

* * *

Back on the Archangel, Admiral Halberton and Captain Hoffman were in Murrue's office to speak with her, Mu, Natarle, Rena, Maria and Anthony on the current situation regarding what has happened so far. "How could they resort to such extreme measures such as destroying Heliopolis and Artemis." began Hoffman, not liking what he had previously heard. "All for this lone ship and the remaining G-Weapon…"

"Never the less, the fact that the crew was able to protect the Strike and this ship serves as a significant victory for the Earth Alliance" said the Admiral, though couldn't help but feel bad for the other mobile suit on the ship…. The one containing the soul of Marion Welch.

"Unfortunately, Alaska doesn't agree with this…"

"Bah! What do they know about the realities of space combat?" frowned Admiral Halberton, sometimes wondering about High Command in general and how they aren't happy about losing four of their machines to the enemy. "Lieutenant Ramius understands all along what I've been trying to achieve… Nothing in this matter warrants any concern."

"Moving onto the topic of the young Coordinator named Kira Yamato… are we to forget all about him?" asked Hoffman, interested to the fact that it was Kira who managed to keep the Strike from ZAFT's hands by far.

"He will be disembarking soon as well and we can't force him to join the military" "Kira Yamato only wanted to protect his friends and that was the sole reason why he piloted the Strike…. We wouldn't have been able to make it here if it wasn't for him but his decision dictated by events beyond his control and he suffered greatly from having to fight against his own people." Murrue told him, knowing that she won't be able to change Kira's mind and that he has made his choice. "He's a kind and sincere boy; I think we should repay him for his sincere efforts with our complete trust."

"Yet if we allow him to go now…"

"What about him becoming one of my pilots?" Anthony suggested, preventing Hoffman from finishing what he was about to say and it made the EA officers a bit surprised at this type of idea.

"That could be a possible idea," began Natarle, interested to hear more about it if there is more to it than that. "If I may speak, while your suggestion serves promise… the question is would he agree with it?"

"He may. It's fighting for his nation in protection of its citizens" he said sternly to the black-haired ensign, causing her to give him a serious glance but remained silent at this.

Halberton never thought he'd admit it but Anthony in a way was right then he stood up from Murrue's chair and said. "The next problem is what are we going to do now?" the four senior officers of the ship were a bit confused by where he's going with this. "The Archangel will be required to make its decent to the Alaska headquarters with its existing roster of personnel."

"Right now, as of what happened prior… the replacement crew was lost along with the Advanced Fleet" explained Hoffman with a serious tone. "Which means we no longer have any additional members for the Archangel."

Admiral Halbeton cleared his voice and said. "With the situation of Heliopolis being destroyed, it is vital that we get this ship and the Strike, with all its data down to Alaska."

"We must bring the G-Weapons development back on track, ZAFT will no doubt continue to send new machines to the battlefield." explained the Admiral with scowl on his face. "It burns me that those pencil pushers who have been wasting precious resources on concessions clearly see the number of soldiers lost in the battlefield as figures on paper!"

"Unfortunately, ZAFT has new machines that are already in development now thanks to the G-Weapons" Anthony sighed.

"What do you mean?" wondered Natarle, slightly confused by what he was talking about and saw him glance at the black-haired woman.

"ZAFT would surely put that data to use. Do you honestly think they would just sit on such a valuable catch?"

"You're not saying that they're already at work on reverse-engineering the four captured units are you?" Rena was the next to ask him, she would never think of ZAFT already going through with something like this.

"They don't have to. I think the data would be all they would need. The blue-prints, the tactical data, everything…" explained the White Wolf, confirming that it was all true.

"Oh man…"

Anthony sighed. "Well in any case, you have my unit's assistance."

"Thank you, we are going to need all the help we can get if we are to put an end to this war." said Murrue, she was glad to hear some good news out of all of this.

"I didn't say that you would have it as a triumph card. As long as there are Orb civilians on board this ship, including the kids from Heliopolis, the ship will have my protection"

"Understood, of course the civilians will be getting ready to leave once they are all gathered together" she told him, knowing that the refugees that Kira previously brought on board after the colony was destroy will be safe once they leave.

"I see…"

It was then that Maria was the next to speak. "Then there's Flay, she's already lost her father and right now I'm all she has left, maybe there might be something for her as well."

"Might be. We're always taking in more squad members."

"Yeah, that's true and it would give the two of us time to bond again after having not seen each other for years."

Anthony nodded. "Everybody wins."

"That may be true" began Murrue, knowing that it may help. "Though that just leaves Kira's friends as well, after all they as well as Kira were the reason we survived so far."

"I understand that but as things are now? They have not been going according as planned." The officers remained silent at this when he said that and with an expression change, he continued. "I'm glad that you agree with me."

"Never the less, it is important that you get to Alaska as soon as possible. However that's not all, you will be assigned two fighters known as the FX-550 Skygrasper… their purpose is to support the Strike in battle." Admiral Halberton turned towards Anthony and his face was serious. "If what you're saying is true… then we will have a serious problem at our hands."

"Very well sir!" began Murrue, saluting to the Admiral and was looking determined not to let him down. "I'll be sure to deliver that spirit of yours when we reach Alaska."

Mu saluted as well. "As a surviving Mobile Armor pilot, that is one order I cannot refuse."

"I appreciate that."

* * *

Kira, now donning his civilian clothing again, made his way towards the cafeteria to tell his parents and sister the good news though he did have to wonder about the Strike and what will happen to it. "Kira!" came Flay's voice as the red-haired girl arrived to see if he's alright. "There you are, I've been looking all over for you."

"Hey there Flay" he said, glad to see his new girlfriend just made it. "So what's up?"

"I've wanted to make sure you're alright that's all" she noticed that he wasn't in his uniform anymore and frowned at this. "So you're actually planning to disembark from the ship?"

He remained silent at this, though the Captain was grateful for his protecting the Archangel up till now, he was wondering about what's going to happen to the Strike once he does go. "To be honest… I'm really sure, while I'm glad that I was able to make sure they managed to get here but for some reason… something and I don't know what, is telling me to make a choice before."

"I see… well there is something that I've been meaning to tell you, which was why I've been looking for you" she told him, almost unsure of how to say it. "It's been concerning what's been going on as well."

"Oh and what's that?" he asked, curious of what she had in mind and saw how bothered she was about it.

"Okay… I'll tell you…" with a deep breath, she decided that she needed to get it out so there wouldn't be anything else to worry about. "I've decided that I want to join the Earth Alliance forces."

"What?!" exclaimed the brown-haired Coordinator in dismay, not wanting to believe what he's hearing. "Flay, why would you want to do something like that? I mean what made you even want to do so?"

"Look I'm not joining just for the fun of it you know" she said in a serious tone, seeing as everyone was doing their part of trying to end the war and so far she wasn't doing the same. "I've been thinking about how you and the others were helping, I just don't want to be the only one not doing my part in this… especially what happened to my father… "

"Flay…"

"Even though I know that my mother is still alive, I've felt like I may lose her for real especially since we might disembark soon" she continued, tears beginning to form in her eyes at the thought of losing the last remaining member of her family. "A war is still being fought on Earth and in space… I actually never gave it much though since I was living in Neutral Territory but now, I want to help but only if you'll have me…"

At first Kira just looked at his girlfriend not sure what to really say, he didn't want to see her or any of his friends hurt. Looking up he just saw Flay looking back at him, Kira knew that Flay wanted to stay to be with her mother as well to catch up on all the Years that she had missed with her. "Flay…" Kira started as he took hold of her hands into his own and smiled lightly at her. "I don't want you to do this alone, so I'm going to stay to keep you and the others safe, after all I can't stand the thought of losing you." He told her as he kissed her on the lips.

Flay just smiled at him. "Come on lets go see how the others are doing." She said with a smile as she took hold of Kira's hand.

* * *

While the refugees on the Archangel were bring gathered together so that they can finally return home safe and sound… at one of the nearby quarters, Kira's friends were surprised when they were each being handed a piece of paper from Natarle and Captain Hoffman. "Discharge papers?" wondered Tolle in disbelief.

Mir was equally as surprised as her boyfriend. "You're saying that we were soldiers all along?" she asked, somewhat confused by this turn of events.

"Where is Kira Yamato?" asked Natarle, wanting to know where Kira is though the other teens have no idea on where he might be. "Never mind, give this to him…" she handed Sai discharge paper to hand to Coordinator.

Hoffman cleared his throat and said. "Though it was an emergency situation, the fact is it is illegal for civilians to take part in combat." he explained to them, catching them off-guard by this. "We want to avoid any potential problems so this is our solution. You've been recognized as volunteer soldiers who entered the military when you came onboard so don't lose those. Further more, any information you learned while on duty is confidential… even after you…"

"Excuse me!" came Flay's voice from out of nowhere and they all turned to see that she was brought Kira with her as there was something that the others needed to know. "I might sound crazy for saying this but I would like to enlist into the Earth Alliance forces."

The students were shocked at this, Sai more so as he knew Flay the most out of all of them other than Mir but what was going to happen next would be a much bigger shock. "I wish to enlist as well" explained Kira, holding Flay's hand without the others noticing.

"Wait, you're actually going to join them?" Cagalli couldn't believe what she's hearing, not to mention he was the one who didn't want to pilot the Strike in the first place and yet he's going to join the Alliance.

Kira just looked over at Cagalli and nodded. "I am I just want to keep everyone on this ship safe, and Flay want to get to know her mother more as well so I'm staying guys, plus I couldn't leave knowing that the people here would be in danger." Kira told Cagalli.

Mir and the other just smiled at this if Kira was going to stay then they also might stay as well as one by one they ripped their Discharge papers in half. "Well if the two of you are staying then so am I." Tolle said with a smile as he looked over to his girlfriend.

Sai just nodded. "Yeah we're all with you Kira no matter what."

As all his friends just smiled and said they will stay to help Kira no matter what as they were all friends after all. Cagalli on the other hand was just shocked that they all still wanted to help them despite that they wanted nothing to do with this war Cagalli just wished she knew what to do herself, as she didn't want to leave them all alone she had grown very close to them all since she meet them a month ago.

Hoffman looked to the students of Heliopolis, cleared his throat and said, "Then you realize what you're right?"

"Of course we do," Tolle said with a grin on his face. "Besides, we wanna help end this war in any way we can."

"Well it's nice to see that young people are volunteering to help bring an end to this war," said Hoffman with a small smile on his face

* * *

Onboard the Vesalius, Yzak Joule looked through his one visible eye that wasn't bandaged. He was supervising the Duel being equipped with Assault Shroud armor that some GINNs and CGUEs would be equipped with heavy armor for missions that required the need to assault a heavily fortified position. As he looked at modifications being made, Nicol floated up to him. "Hey there Yzak," he said cheerfully to his teammate.

Yzak said nothing as he gave a mean glance at Nicol and then back at the Assault Shroud being installed on the Duel. "How's your eye doing?" asked Nicol as he tried to make a conversation with Yzak.

"Fine," growled Yzak.

"I see the Duel is getting new assault arm..." Nicol began but was cut off by Yzak as he slammed his fist on the railing.

"With this Assault Shroud armor, I'll finally defeat the Strike!" snarled Yzak, drawing the attention of the mechanics.

Nicol sighed and turned to the side as he recalled how the Strike was fighting against the Duel.

"Hey Yzak, do you think that the pilot of Strike wasn't trying to kill you?" Nicol asked as he thought about the fight between the Duel and the Strike.

Yzak turned to Nicol and glared at him with daggers in his visible eye and hidden eye. He then stomped over to Nicol and said, "What the hell are you smoking? The Strike tried to kill me and gave this goddamn scar!"

"That's not what I saw Yzak," Nicol said calmly. "It looked to me that the Strike's pilot was just trying to disarm you and just hit a wrong spot."

"Whose side are you on?" Yzak snapped back at Nicol.

Nicol held his hands up in mock surrender and left the hangar after letting out a long sigh.

* * *

Above on the bridge of the Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset looked at the map in front of him as he saw the layout of the enemy fleet and let his mind whirl with an air tight strategy. Oh he was planning the downfall of the Eighth Fleet. He was going to take his time with Admiral Halberton and savor his death slowly and make sure the good admiral died a painful death. More so as he headed to the hanger himself to join the attack in his CGUE.

Within 14 hours, ZAFT forces were ready to destroy the Earth Alliance Eighth Fleet and finally bring an end to the ship that had been making their best forces look like chumps as well as the traitorous White Wolves for assisting it. _'Today will be the day we finally sink that fucking ship once and for all,'_ thought most ZAFT mobile suit pilots that were preparing to launch into battle as they were eager to make their mark on the war and hopefully get the Order of the Nebula for finally sinking the Earth Forces' new warship.

A/Ns: Well here it is, my newest update and I truly apologize for keeping you waiting so long to get this too as I've been busy with other things in my real life. Expect to see more of it soon.


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